fl,.>!l U" 



iiM<- 



•lltMHl'! 



i 






ii;i' 




' 'i";i;i^i;n;!il..j;; 



P4H;w^!w'iN1rjik\T-;*i:!v 






■j.'i;/ 



i'SI 



•.•;*'; 






;ra -, 






'•' •^-:ii': ': '1: 



' i ; 
','4* 



t, I «^4 '•,()*»■ A I i iv 'ni-' '7'/' ' r*' ' ' I ' 1 ' 1 1 lii I lilt 

'•'i •"' -'iv V" I.-'- '»■• ;■."■, ,•' ' ',;/ M,-r '. .., , , 



:t.;:^ov'.;. 












'.('ii; 





Class G(/l l^3. 

Book , f^^^ 

CopyrigMlsl? 



\ 



CDFrniGRT DEPOSm 



""fffl 



PHYSICAL CULTURE 

AND 

SELF-DEFENSE 



'^il 




^i^p^^^l^^'^^^^-f'tJd 



Physical Culture 
and self-defense 



^ BY 

ROBERT FITZSIMMONS 

CHAMPION MIDDLE-WEIGHT FIGHTER OF THE WORLD •, CHAMPION 

HEAVY-WEIGHT FIGHTER OF THE WORLD, 1897-I899 ; 

INSTRUCTOR AND LECTURBR ON PHYSICAL 

CULTURE, ETC., ETC, ETC. 



WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 
A. J. DREXEL BIDDLE, F.R.G.S., F.R.M.S., F.G.S.A. 

ETC. 



ILLUSTRATIONS FROM 
POSES BY ROBERT FITZSIMMONS 

AND 

GEORGE DAWSON 

PHYSICAL INSTRUCTOR OF THE CHICAGO ATHLETIC CLUB, 




DREXEL BIDDLE, PUBLISHER 

LONDON PHILADELPHIA SAN FRANCISCO 

228 South Fourth St. 

I90I 



F'5- 



THE LI8RASY OF 
tSONGRESS. 

Two COHlES HecEfVED 

NOV, f§ 1901 

COPVRIQHT ENTi^v 

CLASS (X XXc *sc., 
COP> 



Copyright, 1901 

BY 
ANTHONY J. DRJeXEI. BIDDI,K 

Entered at Stationers' Hall, I^ondoa 



ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 



PRINTED BY DREXEL BIDDLE, PHILADELPHIA, U. S. A. 



DEDICATION 



To one whose beauty through each changing year is yet 

unchanging^ 
And through whose eyes I have seen the light and the right. 
My light when all else was darkness and uncertainty ^ 
And whose companionship shone with a gentle lustre for 

all that is good and bright. 
Thai shines ever for me in the paths of truth and happiness : 
My guiding star — My Wife. 



The author and the publisher of this volume 
desire to express their thanks to Mr. W. R. 
Hearst for his courtesy and kindness in per- 
mitting the republication from the New York 
Journal of certain of the articles and illustra- 
tions herein contained. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 



Introduction. By A. J. Drexel Biddle . 13 
PART I 

PHYSICAL CULTURE 



CHAPTER 



I. The Proper Way to Breathe .... 29 

II. School-room Exercises 39 

III. How to Reduce Weight 44 

IV. A Chapter for Women — To Gain Beauty 

with Strength 47 

V. Advice to Parents for the Health and 

Rearing of their Children ... 51 

VI. To Prospective Athletes 55 

PART II 

SELF-DEFENSE 

VII. First Lesson in Boxing ...... 61 

VIII. Right and Wrong Kinds of Muscles 

Contrasted 73 

IX. Bag Punching 77 

X. Right and Wrong Way of Using the 
Feet and Hands while Sparring — 

What the Exercise Develops ... 84 

XI. The Poise in Boxing ....... 89 

XII. Positions for the Hands 94 

XIII. How to Land Blows ....... 98 

(9) 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XIV. Courage the Keynote of a Boxer's 

Success 103 

XV. How the Heavy Man Should Train and 

Fight 106 

XVI. The Way TO Strike A Hard Blow . . . no 
XVII. The Plan for an Amateur's Successful 

Encounter 113 

XVIII. The Famous Blows of Robert Fitzsimmons 115 

PART III 

THE LIFE AND RING BATTLES OF ROBERT FITZSIMMONS 

XIX. An Account of the Warrior. By A. J. 

Drexel Biddle 143 

XX. The Heavy-weight Championship Battle. 

By Thomas T. Williams 147 

XXI. The Heavy-weight Championship Battle. 

By Robert Fitzsimmons 163 

XXII. The Battle with Gus Ruhlin. By W. 

W. Naughton 172 

XXIII. The Battle with Thomas Sharkey : with 

Running Comments made by Gus 
Ruhlin AT THE Ringside 178 

XXIV. The Record of Robert Fitzsimmons . . 183 



(10) 



. / 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 

Robert Fitzsimmons Frontispiece. 

Breathing Exercise — First Position 31 

Breathing Exercise — Second Position 32 

Breathing Exercise — Third Position 33 

Breathing Exercise — Working Arms Up and Down 

Above the Head 34 

Breathing Exercise for the Development of the Neck 

and Shoulders 35 

Breathing Exercise — Punching from Side to Side with 

Filled Lungs 36 

Breathing Exercise — Showing the Muscles of the Back 

while Punching from Side to Side .... 37 

A Lesson in Street Defense — No. i 65 

A Lesson in Street Defense — No. 2 d^i 

A Lesson in Street Defense — No. 3 67 

The Wrong Position in Boxing ....... dZ 

The Right Position in Boxing 69 

Stepping Back with the Left Foot — The Lncorrect 

Retreat 70 

Stepping Back with the Right Foot — The Correct 

Retreat 71 

Punching the Bag-^Ln a Position to Deliver Left . 80 

Punching the Bag 81 

The Correct Boxing Position 117 

Stopping a Right-hand Body-punch 118 



, LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Blocking Left-hand Swing and Delivering Left Hook 

on the Jaw 119 

Side-step, Pushing Left-hand Lead with Right ILand 120 

Duck and Right-hand Body -blow 121 

Withdrawing the Body from Left-hand Lead and 

Landing with Left 071 Face 122 

Left-hand Body -punch and Duck 123 

Blocking Left-hand Lead and Delivering Right-hand 

Solar-plexus Blow 124 

Right-hand Counter and Block 125 

Foul Pivot-blow , . . . 126 

Proper Way to Pivot 127 

Throwing Left-hand Lead of Opponent up with Your 

Left and Delivering Right-hand Body -punch . 128 
Beating Left Lland Down with Left and Delivering 

Right Simultaneously on Opponenf s Jaw . . 129 
Drawing Back from Left-hand Lead to a Position to 

Deliver Left on Oppoitent 130 

Returning Left-hand Counter After Feinting Your 

Opponent 131 

Stopping a L^t-hand Lead 132 

Inside Right-hand Cross-counter 133 

The Slip — Resorted to in the Face of Threatened 

Punishment 134 

The Slip — Seco7id Position .^35 

The Slip — Third Position 136 

The Famous Left-hand Shift for the Solar Plexus . 137 

The Fa^nous Shift 138 

The Left-hand Shift for the Point of the Jaw . . 139 

(12) 



INTRODUCTION 



Although Robert Fitzsimmons, the greatest 
fighter the ring has ever had, is world famous 
in his public life, yet, strange to say, scarcely 
any but his intimate friends knov^r the actual 
personality and character of this rem^arkable 
man. At his home and among his friends he 
bears no trace of the ring or of the fighter. A 
man of temperate habits, and who lives by 
strict rules for the moral and physical life, the 
only trait for v^^hich his worst enemy can 
criticise him is that of his unbounded gener- 
osity. But even here the harsh critic must 
pause, for Robert Fitzsimmons is possessed 
of the keenest powers of perception, and can 
discern between the worthy and the unworthy 
with almost unerring judgment. 

An illustration of the unbounded generosity 
of this man may be found within the doors of 
his own home. There is an old gray-haired 

(13) 



INTRODUCTION 

man who is introduced to every visitor at the 
Fitzsimmons residence as Dr. John Lapraik. 
The history of Dr. Lapraik's presence here is 
kept generally as a secret by the modest Fitz- 
simmons himself. The true situation I dis- 
covered only by accident. This old man was 
the "boss" of the blacksmith shop in which 
Fitzsimmons was foreman for years out in 
Australia. He is a guest at the Fitzsimmons 
house— for life if he desires. Fitzsimmons 
recently heard that John Lapraik was living in 
straitened circumstances in a town far removed 
from New York. He learned of the matter in 
a roundabout fashion, as the old Doctor, a 
veterinary surgeon by profession, was too 
proud to let his friend of Australian days know 
of his poverty or whereabouts. But immedi- 
ately that Fitzsimmons heard of his friend's 
distress, he sent the following brief and char- 
acteristic note to his fellow-workman of long 
ago: 

**I am on easy street now, old boy. Come and live 
with me and take a rest in your old age. 

<^ Robert Fitzsimmons." 

Everything is arranged for the Doctor's 
comfort, and in the cellar there is a workshop 

(14) 



INTRODUCTION 

fitted out for his especial benefit. There John 
Lapraik mixes his medicines and tinkers about 
in bHssful enjoyment day after day. It is inter- 
esting to hear him tell of the way in which his 
foreman would ask for a half-holiday when he 
was going to an encounter out in Australia. 
Dr. Lapraik smiles when he says that the 
fighter used to deny he was the Bob Fitzsim- 
mons the papers were talking about, for fear of 
losing his position in the horseshoeing business. 

When Admiral Dewey received his great 
ovation in New York he passed beneath the 
beautiful ''Dewey Arch." There a statue, 
eighteen feet high, representing "Peace," 
looked down upon the triumphant Admiral. 
This statue was modelled by the New York 
sculptor D. C. French from Robert Fitz- 
simmons. 

With Fitzsimmons, his private life and his 
professional career are absolutely distinct, and 
his intimate personal friends are one and all 
from among the worthy class of people — busi- 
ness men, actors, statesmen, authors, and 
artists. This man, the coolest and bravest 
fighter that ever entered a ring, is possessed 
of an uncommonly even temperament. What- 

(15) 



INTRODUCTION 

ever his small or great disappointments, or the 
state of his feelings may be, his nearest asso- 
' dates see none other than the sunny side of 
his disposition. When he is really "out of 
sorts," or nervous, or upset, like other men, is 
never known : he is a man of iron will, and 
can conceal any gloom that he may feel with 
such perfect ease and under so sunshiny a 
manner that not even his intimates can know 
his inward thought. But this is the only decep- 
tion of which Fitzsimmons is guilty of prac- 
tising. He is straightforward and frank to a 
degree rarely found in even the best of heroes 
outside of fiction. 

Those who would know Robert Fitzsimmons 
as a prize-fighter in private life will be doomed 
to disappointment. When this man leaves 
training or the ring all vestige of the pugilist 
departs from him. He is a law-abiding, God- 
fearing man, a good citizen, and a model 
husband and father. In the privacy of his 
beautiful home at Bensonhurst one finds the 
true Robert Fitzsimmons. There, in a great 
house set in the midst of shaded lawns and 
garden, he spends the happiest times of his 
life. He wants no other company than that of 

(16) 



INTRODUCTION 

his loving wife and children. His friends are 
at all times welcome, and spare-rooms stand 
ready for them. Distinguished courtesy and 
hospitality are characteristics of both Mr. and 
Mrs. Fitzsimmons. A more devoted couple it 
v/ould be hard to find. It was Mrs. Fitzsim- 
mons' wish that her husband should leave the 
ring, and he has done so. There is not a 
trace of the pugilist at the home of Robert 
Fitzsimmons. No athletic apparatus of any 
kind, not even a punching-bag, is to be found 
on the premises. His training has always been 
done away from his residence, as another man 
would do business at his office. 

There are those who condemn or honor a 
man on account of his calling. They are the 
narrow-minded or superficially critical who 
condemn or praise alike without investigation 
of a man's personality or private character. 
While all deceitful callings are contemptible, 
the vocation of the prize-fighter is at least a 
manly one. He is rarely matched against 
inferior weight or size, and constantly under- 
goes supreme tests for bravery and patience, 
and even magnanimity. It is often the case 
that a fighter, seeing victory well assured, 

(17) 



INTRODUCTION 

refrains from further beating a weakened 
opponent who has fought most roughly. Very 
often, indeed, does the boxer, well assured of 
victory, implore the referee to interfere and 
thus save his adversary from further punish- 
ment. 

Many pugilists must support their wives and 
families by the proceeds of their calling, so 
that fighting is a business, and not a cause for 
**bad blood" with them. As a matter of fact, 
there is much less *'bad blood" in professional 
than in amateur boxing. Though the writer 
does not personally uphold or advocate the 
profession of pugilism, he merely wishes to 
prove that it is not entirely condemnable, and 
that it is in fact possible to fmd some good in 
it. That a pugilistic encounter is utterly brutal 
is an erroneous view, for men in such fine 
physical training as pugilists cannot receive 
much injury beyond a few scratches or skin 
bruises at worst from padded gloves. 

As for amateur boxing — is it not a fine, 
manly sight to witness two young men, strong 
in friendship and mutual high regard, and both 
skilled in the art of self-defense, engaged in a 
boxing match together? With bodies grace- 

(18)' 



INTRODUCTION 

fully poised, heads erect, and cheeks flushed in 
pleasurable excitement, they narrowly watch 
each other's every movement, and weave in 
and out, one about the other, hitting, parrying, 
dodging, and side-stepping with lightning-like 
rapidity. If one chances to fall, his friend 
does not smile victoriously, but rather looks 
anxiously for the fallen to rise unhurt, in order 
that he may thus see no harm was done, and 
also that the sport may continue. 

Eyeing one another earnestly, though in 
absolute friendliness, each is almost as pleased 
when the other makes a clever hit as he is 
when the cleverness is his own. A word of 
congratulation is often spoken at such a mo- 
ment At the end of the "bout" the boxers 
shake hands, better friends than ever. They 
look into one another's eyes and agree that 
they had a fine ** set-to" — they are pleased with 
themselves and with each other. Is not such a 
meeting of friends warranted to test their true 
mettle ? 

For years boxing was under a cloud of 
official disapproval in the English army ; now 
it is the predominating sport. At a time when 
the feeling against boxing ran high, a famous 

(19) 



INTRODUCTION 

British general was persuaded, much against 
his will, to witness a glove contest. This same 
general had always been one of the most active 
spirits in opposing the sport, and his opinion 
was law in the army. But after he had wit- 
nessed the contest he addressed the assembled 
throng ere they departed. He said he had 
changed his views completely, and considered 
the exhibition he had seen as manly and 
praiseworthy in every particular ; that he 
would henceforward withdraw all opposition 
to the sport, and, moreover, he hoped boxing 
would so grow in favor that ere long every 
English soldier would have become a boxer. 

In his most recent victories Fitzsimmons has 
done more for the cause of scientific boxing, 
the manly art of self-defense, than any other 
person has ever accomplished. He has de- 
feated decisively, one after the other, two of 
the greatest pugilists the world has ever seen 
— Augustus Ruhlin and Thomas Sharkey, two 
great, powerful fellows, each many pounds 
larger and many years younger than Fitz- 
simmons. 

And how did this most wonderful of fighters 
accomplish his victories ? Not by running away 

(20) • 



INTRODUCTION 

and tiring his opponents, nor yet by landing 
chance blows or by good-luck. He stood right 
up to each of them and exchanged blows 
until they fell. But his blows were the more 
scientific, as was his defense; and thus by his 
victories he clearly proved that superior science 
is more than a match for superior size and 
strength, even with youth to back such desir- 
able qualities. Though a word must be said 
about Fitzsimmons' physique, for he is, indeed, 
a man of iron. 

It is an acknowledged fact among famous 
athletes, trainers, and doctors who have known 
Robert Fitzsimmons, that he has upset more of 
their theories and done more to revise and 
better the rules for training and for the care of 
the health than any other living man. His 
thorough scientific knowledge of anatomy and 
of medicine is uniquely accurate. 

It is also interesting to know how certain 
famous trainers have stated that Fitzsimmons 
is the easiest man to put into condition they 
ever handled. In fact, they acknowledge that 
his rules for living are such that ''he is always 
'fit' and ready." They say they have learned 
more in the true art of physical culture 

(21) 



INTRODUCTION 

from him than they could ever shov/ him, 
although his theories were often the reverse 
of theirs. 

An illustration of this remarkable state of 
affairs may be found in an account by Mr. 
Frederick Bogan, the crack California feather- 
weight. Mr. Bogan was recently quoted as 
telling of his acquaintance with Fitzsimmons 
during the first few weeks after the latter's 
arrival in this country from Australia, in 1890. 
His account as given ran as follows : 

** Fitzsimmons worked along with us for 
several days, but we paid little attention to 
him, except that we smiled at his peculiar 
ideas about training. When we put on heavy 
sweaters in the morning for a run he would 
go out and take a slow walk, and we came to 
the conclusion that it was because he could not 
run a long distance. 

" One day Choynski suggested that we invite 

him out for a run to try to kill him off. Much 

to our surprise he accepted the offer, and away 

we started. Our idea was to carry him at a 

rapid gait to the sea-beach, six miles away, and 

then back at our very best and make him cry 

enough. 

(22) . 



INTRODUCTION 

" Choynski and I would take turn about 
setting the pace, and we were beginning to feel 
the effects of the rapid gait long before we 
had reached the ocean. I kept watching Fltz- 
slmmons' face, expecting to see signs of dis- 
tress, but instead there was that same steady 
expression of satisfaction and absolutely no 
rapid breathing. Choynski noticed it, too, and 
I could tell that he also was perplexed; but 
neither of us had wind enough to talk, and 
away we jogged through the sand-hills down 
to the sea and right back on the return 
journey. 

*'0n the way Fitzslmmons kept asking ques- 
tions In regard to the scenery, but the answers 
he got were jerky and few. He was beyond 
any doubt tireless, and his long legs strode 
faster and faster. He was now setting the 
pace with Choynski, and I v/as ready to drop, 
but too proud to quit. We were never so glad 
to see anything in our lives as when the Cliff 
House burst upon us at a turn of the road. 
While we were being rubbed down the Aus- 
tralian coolly wiped himself off with a towel 
and remarked that the pace had been 
'bloomin' fast' 

(23) 



INTRODUCTION 

* 'After dinner we were frisking around lazily 
in the gymnasium when Fitzsimmons proposed 
to Choynski that they don the gloves. The 
latter assented and they started off. Choynski 
was then in his prime. He was a clever, hard 
hitter and weighed about one hundred and 
sixty-five pounds in good condition. That day 
Fitzsimmons tipped the beam at one hundred 
and forty-seven pounds. I never saw a prettier 
bout in all my life." 

Shortly after this the Australian went to 
New Orleans, where his victories over Arthur 
Upham, Dempsey, Maher, Jim Hall and others 
in rapid succession and his acquisition and loss 
of the world's championship have made his 
name famous throughout the world. 

One of the greatest fighters that Fitzsim- 
mons ever encountered was Jack Dempsey, the 
old-time peerless champion middle-weight of 
the world. Dempsey was at the height of his 
career when he met his defeat at the hands of 
Fitzsimmons. On the night of the great fight 
McCauliffe accompanied Dempsey into the 
ring, and it is said by the spectators who were 
then present that there was never a more 
superb looking pair of athletes than these men. 

(24) 



INTRODUCTION 

Fitzsimmons appeared in a long, loose bath- 
robe, which accentuated his gaunt appearance, 
and as he took his seat across the ring 
McCauliffe and Dempsey regarded him com- 
miseratingly, for his spindly legs could be seen 
as far as the knees, and he did not look as 
though he weighed more than a hundred 
pounds. Dempsey expressed sincere pity for 
this poor, thin man — he had never seen him in 
his life before — but when Fitzsimmons re- 
moved his wrapper and his gigantic chest and 
shoulders loomed up, Dempsey looked aghast. 
The famous artist Mr. Homer Davenport, 
who was present at the time, says that Fitzsim- 
mons stood high above Dempsey as the two 
fighters met and shook hands in the centre of 
the ring, and that Dempsey' s attitude changed, 
not to one of fear, for he was a brave man, but 
rather to one of desperate determination. The 
lines of his face became drawn, and he entered 
the combat with all his old-time, fine style. 
Fitzsimmons, however, gave him no oppor- 
tunity of squaring off and getting his distance, 
but rushed at him and pinned him repeatedly 
with terrific force. As the fight proceeded, 
round by round, Dempsey grev/ so weak that 

(25) 



INTRODUCTION 

at times he begged Fitzsimmons not to fight so 
fast. Here the Australian showed great gal- 
lantry, for he stopped his rushing tactics and 
squared off until Dempsey regained his breath 
and balance. So often did Fitzsimmons do 
this that his manager, Carroll, became dis- 
gusted and rated him severely. On one occa- 
sion when Fitzsimmons had driven Dempsey 
to the floor, and the latter, unable to rise, 
clung to Fitzsimmons' knees and implored the 
Australian to help him to his feet, Fitzsimmons 
leaned over and placed Dempsey upright, and 
then waited for some time until he was ready 
to continue. It was almost the end of the 
battle when Dempsey fell to the floor, appar- 
ently insensible, from a terrible blow of the 
Australian's. He lay still until the ninth second 
had been counted, when he suddenly struggled 
to his feet and struck that graceful attitude for 
which he was famous. He stood rigid, and re- 
sembled a bronze statue. The public rose and 
cheered him to the echo, and Fitzsimmons 
stood off looking at him in admiration. But a 
few moments later he fell and was counted 
out, and Fitzsimmons was proclaimed middle- 
weight champion of the world. 

(26) ' 



INTRODUCTION 

From that time forward Dempsey became 
greatly interested in the career of Fitzsimmons, 
and it is not generally known that on his 
death-bed he handed a snug little sum to 
his wife, with the following instructions : 
"Whenever or whoever Fitzsimm*ons fights, 
always place your money on him, for he is 
bound to beat every man of any weight that he 
ever encounters." Pursuant to these instruc- 
tions Mrs. Dempsey placed every cent that she 
owned in the world on him when he met 
Corbett for the heavy-weight championship, at 
Carson City. At the time the odds were 75 
to 100 in favor of Corbett. But true to 
Dempsey's prediction, Fitzsimmons proved the 
victor, and Mrs. Dempsey was thus rewarded 
for her confidence in the words of her 
husband. 

Fitzsimmons has always shown a determin- 
ation to excel in whatever he undertook. In 
his onetime employment as blacksmith he won 
the horseshoeing championship of the world. 

In spite of his single defeat by champion 
James J. Jeffries, John L. Sullivan is quoted as 
having said recently, ** I think Fitzsimmons is 
about the best fighter we have." 

(27) 



INTRODUCTION 

But, as already stated, Robert Fitzsimmons 
has retired from the ring. It is in view of his 
original and comprehensive knowledge relative 
to physical culture and boxing that the present 
volume from his pen must necessarily prove 
universally authoritative. 

A. J. Drexel Biddle. 



(28) 




BREATHING EXERCISE— SHOWI NG FIRST POSITION 

Fill the lungs : then draw in abdomen, and prepare to lift joined 

hands above the head 




BREATHING EXERCISE, SECOND POSITION.— FORCE AIR IN 
LUNGS BY PRESSING OUT ABDOMEN 




BREATHING EXERCISE, THIRD POSITION.— WORK ARMS UP 
AND DOWN WITH FILLED LUNGS 




(REATHING EXERCISE. WORKING ARMS UP AND DOWN ABOVE 
THE HEAD, WITH FILLED LUNGS 




BREATHING EXERCISE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE 

NECK AND SHOULDERS 

Alternate between first position and this 




BREATHING EXERCISE. PUNCHING FROM SIDE TO SIDE 
WITH FILLED LUNGS 




JREATHING EXERCISE, SHOWING THE MUSCLES OF THE BACK 
WHILE PUNCHING FROM SIDE TO SIDE DURING VIGOROUS 
RESPIRATION 

Back view of opposite picture 



PART I 
PHYSICAL CULTURE 



CHAPTER I 

THE PROPER YVAY TO BREATHE 

A Course of Exercises by Which the Correct 
Method May be Acquired 



CHAPTER II 

SCHOOL-ROOM EXERCISES 

Sometime ago I received the following com- 
munication : 

Princeton, Ind., October 15, 1900. 

Mr. Robert Fitzsimmons, New York. 

Dear Sir : I am a teacher of boys and girls from twelve 
to fifteen years of age. As an incentive to physical culture, 
I believe no name could make such an impression as that 
of Robert Fitzsimmons. Could you suggest some exercises 
to be used about fifteen or twenty minutes daily in the 
school-room — exercises that would tend toward a good car- 
riage of the body, with good chest and limb development ? 

Very respectfully, 

Mary Bruce Henderson. 

I was glad to reply to the letter printed 
above, and suggested several exercises which, 
if faithfully used, would benefit not only boys 
and girls, but grown-up men and women as 
well. Before describing the exercises, it may 
be said that their value in developing muscle 
cannot be overrated. 

There is an unfortunate tendency in these 
(39) 



PHYSICAL CULTURE 

modern athletic times to turn boys and girls 
loose in gymnasiums and allow them to exer- 
cise without any competent director. As a 
consequence, many a boy makes impossible the 
very thing he aims to attain — a fine physique. 
He develops some part of his body dispropor- 
tionately to the rest, and becomes muscle- 
bound before he reaches manhood, or he sub- 
jects his immature body to some violent exer- 
tion that results in a strain from which he may 
never fully recover. 

Do not think that you must have dumb-bells, 
Indian-clubs, or pulley weights to get strong. 
Let every boy remember, for this should appeal 
especially to boys, that some of the strongest 
men in the world have developed their great 
physical power without the aid of gymnastic 
paraphernalia of any kind, but simply by such 
simple exercises as I will explain. 

Some years ago such a man rode from New 
York to Chicago on a bicycle. He took the 
ride merely for pleasure, and had no reputation 
as a cyclist, yet so great was his strength and 
endurance — gained by simple exercises — that 
he broke the record then existing for the 
journey. 

(40) 



SCHOOL-ROOM EXERCISES 

Let every boy who reads this try the exei 
cises here elucidated, and he will feel that they 
are doing him good. He will secure an erect, 
easy, graceful carriage, cover his body with 
firm, pliable muscles^ and prepare himself for 
the hard training necessary for the violent 
exercise of boxing and most vigorous outdoor 
sports. 

How to Stand, Stand up against a wall with 
your arms by your sides, your heels, shoulders, 
and head touching the wall. Draw in your 
abdomen. Hold your head erect, with the 
chin well in, so that when you look straight 
ahead your glance strikes the floor about fifteen 
or twenty feet in front of you. Take several 
steps forward and stand with your heels to- 
gether. You are now ready for the first 
exercise. 

Exercise i. Lift your arms until they make 
a horizontal line with your shoulder. Then 
bring them forward in front, reaching out as 
far as you can so as to pull your shoulders 
forward, but holding the rest of the body 
rigid. Next spread back your arms with a 
slow, gentle motion as far as you can — do not 
let them drop down any — at the same time 

(41) 



PHYSICAL CULTURE 

iilling your lungs as full of air as possible. 
Do this ten times. Then drop your arms to 
your sides. 

Exercise 2, Lift your arms outward with an 
easy, gentle motion up above your head, reach- 
ing as high as you can, but keeping your heels 
on the floor. Then lower them again gently 
to the first position. Do this ten times. In 
lifting your arms inhale, and in lowering 
exhale. 

In both these exercises be careful that you 
breathe as directed, and hold your body, except 
the arms and shoulders, as in the standing 
position. These exercises will develop the 
muscles of your back, chest, and shoulders, 
and will increase your lung capacity greatly 
in a short time. 

Exercise j. Place the hands on the hips. 
Bend to the right as far as possible ; then bend 
back again and to the left as far as you can. 
Do this twenty times. Do not move by jerks, 
but smoothly and not too fast. 

Exercise 4, Bend forward as far as you 
can, and then backward as far as you can, 
with a gentle, even motion. Do this twenty 
times. 

(42) 



SCHOOL-ROOM EXERCISES 

In both these exercises care must be taken 
not to bend the knees. Breathe naturally. 
Keep the lower part of the body as near as 
possible in the standing position. These exer- 
cises are for the waist muscles. Exercise 3 
develops the muscles of the side and loins, and 
Exercise 4 is one of the best exercises for the 
back, the muscles along the back of the legs, 
and especially the abdominal muscles, which 
are among the most important to an athlete 
and a strong man. 

Remember particularly that the number of 
times you do the exercises is not so important 
as faithful regularity, and the way in which you 
do them. Start easily, and gradually increase 
the number you do of each. You will soon 
acquire a surprising endurance, as you may 
easily prove by getting some companion to 
follow you through the exercises. He may be 
strong, and, perhaps, something of an athlete, 
but unless he is exceptionally well developed 
he will certainly show signs of fatigue and may 
have to stop before you begin to tire. 



(43) 



CHAPTER III 

HOW TO REDUCE WEIGHT 

A Simple Diet and Easy Indoor Exercise 
Without Dumb-bells or Indian-clubs 

Here is some advice for the business man, 
the lawyer, doctor, broker, clerk, salesman : 
any man, in fact, who is kept indoors much of 
the time. 

Most men of this class take on weight. 
They become big and fat : uncomfortably so. 

This advice will show them how they can 
keep in fairly good trim, notwithstanding the 
fact that they have practically no available time 
at their disposal for exercise of any description. 

Take the business man who, having reached 
middle-age, is beginning to get stout. Owing 
to this increase in weight he begins tp have 
aches and pains. His muscles are not trained 
to support the extra weight which he is taking 
on. 

Here is your diet, and you must adhere to it 
if you want to obtain proper results. 

(44) 



HOVv^ TO REDUCE WEIGHT 

Abstain from the use of all fatty and starchy 
food. Eat all kinds of meat except pork. Eat 
all varieties of green vegetables, fruits, and dry 
toast, and drink your tea without sugar. Do 
not eat potatoes, butter, fresh bread, or sugar. 

There is the diet : now for the exercises. 
They are not difficult, and I will give you only 
two movements. 

In the first, you must lie flat on your back 
and then raise your legs up together so they 
will be at right angles with your body ; then 
slowly let them down to the floor. Do this 
twenty times each morning and evening. 

In the second movement you must lie down 
on your stomach. When in this position place 
your hands on the floor near your chest, and, 
without bending the body, push yourself slowly 
up to the full length of your arms. Do this 
ten times each morning and evening. 

Above all things you must be regular, and 
do not look for too speedy results. 

You cannot hope to stick to this diet and 
these exercises for two or three mornings and 
then jump on the scales and find that you have 
dropped five or ten pounds. 

It will be at least two or three weeks before 

(45) 



PHYSICAL CULTURE 

you commence to lose weight. Then you will 
drop from two to five pounds a week. 

You must impress it upon your mind, how- 
ever, that there must be no weakening on the 
tasks that you have laid down for yourself 

Some cold mornings you will get up, possibly 
after a hard night, feeling languid and unre- 
freshed. Instead of taking your cold bath, 
rub-down, and exercises, you may be tempted 
to say, " Oh ! I'll just skip it this once, and 
jump into my clothes." 

Such weakness is fatal. 

Persevere ! 



(46) 



CHAPTER IV 

A CHAPTER FOR WOMEN— TO GAIN BEAUTY 
WITH STRENGTH 

Muscle^Building Will Bring Charms that the 
Toilet Table Can Never Furnish 

Muscle building brings beauty to woman. 
This brief statement is sufficient, I think, to 
make many women embark upon a physical 
development course. What will woman not 
do to become beautiful ? They — some of them, 
at least — powder and paint, and bleach their 
hair, and do all kinds of other foolish things 
in an attempt to improve their appearance. 

If they but knew what a routine of daily, 
healthful exercise would do for them they 
would soon forsake their toilet tables for the 
gymnasium. 

There is nothing in this world more lovely 
than a beautiful woman. There is nothing 
more pleasing to the eye than a browned, rosy- 
cheeked, full-chested, straight-backed woman. 
Let her be all these and she is certainly queen. 

(47) 



PHYSICAL CULTURE 

A Woman that Excites Pity 

When I see a poor, pale, narrow-chested, 
weak woman, with her waist drawn up so tight 
that it is impossible for her to take a deep, full 
breath — the kind that puts health and strength 
into the human body — my heart fairly bleeds 
for her. 

My wife having at one time been an ath- 
lete, I am in a position to know just what is 
beneficial and what is not for the average 
woman. 

In the first place, a woman should dress so 
that there will be plenty of room for the lungs 
to have full play. Ninety-nine per cent, of 
them are dressed so that it is impossible for 
them to take a good, deep breath. They 
breathe up in their chests only. Consequently, 
they are short-winded. 

Then, again, the average woman seldom 
gives a thought to the idea of daily exercising. 
She seldom walks unless she is compelled to. 
She shuts herself up in a hot, stuffy room, eats 
improperly, and then wonders that she is 
subject to so many complaints. 



(48) 



TO GAIN BEAUTY WITH STRENGTH 

Golfs Many Advantages 

I must say that in the past few years there 
has been a big change in the mode of Hving 
adopted by women. 

The game of golf has been responsible for 
this to a large degree, and I cannot say too 
much for it as a means of exercise for women. 
It provides just the kind of outdoor life that 
they need. It takes them out into the sun and 
makes them brown and healthy looking. It 
fills their lungs full of pure, fresh air, while the 
continual walking and swinging of the clubs 
supplies exercise for the entire body. 

Women, play golf ! 

Of course, you can overdo it. Women differ 
so much in their physical make-up that what is 
medicine for one is poison for another. For 
this reason a woman should carefully guard 
her strength. 

Do not overtax yourself. Go about your 
sports and your walks with moderation. Too 
much exercise is worse than not enough. You 
can easily find out just what you are capable 
of enduring, and then shape your work and 
play to suit your strength. . 

(49) 



PHYSICAL CULTURE 

Do Not Be a Physical Freak 

What I want most of all to impress upon 
women is not to try to make physical freaks of 
themselves. 

A woman cannot stand too much training in 
any one direction at the expense of the rest of 
her body as well as a man can. Her physical 
make-up is not constructed for it. For this 
reason she should try to divide her exercises as 
evenly as possible. 

A woman who can row, ride a wheel and 
a horse, swim, shoot, play tennis and golf, all 
moderately well, and not try to overtax her 
strength in any one branch, is the woman who 
will be strong and healthy. 

She does not lace herself too tight ; she 
glories in the pure air and delights to throw 
out her shoulders and drink in long, deep 
mouthfuls of it, and she nurses her strength 
as carefully as does the trained athlete. 

This is the woman whom it is a joy to see. 
This is the woman who is queen. 



(50) 



CHAPTER V 

ADVICE TO PARENTS FOR THE HEALTH AND 
REARING OF THEIR CHILDREN. 

** How can I train my child so he will grow 
up to be an athlete ? '* 

This is a question which I am asked con- 
stantly. At the outset I want to say to both 
fathers and mothers who put this question to 
me — Don't. 

By this don't I mean do not start out with 
the idea that you want to make an athlete of 
your boy. 

Just so sure as this plan is pursued you will 
overwork him in his tender years and end by 
sending him to an early grave. 

But do start out to make of him a big, 
strong, healthy child who will grow into a fine, 
manly man, and his athletic bent will follow in 
the natural course of events. 

Too much training for the young bones and 
muscles is far more harmful than too little. 

(51) 



PHYSICAL CULTURE 

If a child gets no exercises for the muscles 
there is a chance for him to make up for this 
neglect when he grows up. If he gets too 
much, and his weak little muscles are strained 
and his supple bones warped, he can never 
fully recover. 

Double Strain Weakens 

It must be remembered that a child's brain 
is growing even more rapidly than its body. 
This is a strain on its system, but a certain 
amount of healthy exercise will help it to stand 
this strain. Too much exercise will add to 
the strain. This double strain will end by 
weakening the entire system. 

There is nothing that can be so easily trained 
as the muscles of a child. The muscles and 
bones are both soft and pliable. They can be 
moulded like so much putty. See that they 
are moulded the right way. 

There is not a day passes that I do not have 
a romp with my little son. I also put him 
through a regular, daily course of exercise. 
I instruct him in gymnastic movements that 
will tend to make him supple in every joint 
At the same time the tiny -muscles are slowly 

(52) 



ADVICE TO PARENTS IN REARING CHILDREN 

but surely building up on his little limbs and 
body. That is the way they should be formed 
— slowly — almost as slowly as the wearing 
away of a rock by the waves of the ocean. 

Do Not Start Too Soon 

Another point which should be carefully 
followed is not to start too early to train 
your children. Just so sure as you do you will 
put some strain upon them that their young 
bodies cannot endure. And then they are 
permanently incapacitated. All the bright 
hopes of making a man among men of your 
boy are spoiled by undue haste to make a 
youthful wonder of him. 

When your boys, and your girls, too, for that 
matter, are just able to toddle around, the best 
thing you can do is to see that they are kept 
outdoors as much as possible. 

Children cannot get too much fresh air. 

Get them up early in the morning and send 
them out into the fresh air. Even if you live 
in the city, keep them outdoors when the 
weather permits. 

Better to have them dirty and healthy than 
clean and sickly. 

(53) 



PHYSICAL CULTURE 

When to Use Gymnastics, 

Follow the foregoing plan, and then when 
you think that the children are able to stand 
a certain amount of simple exercise commence 
to put them through their gymnastics every 
morning and night. 

They will grow strong : they cannot help it 
if you will follow the above rules. 

Bear in mind that your children must have 
plenty of fresh air, and moderate, regular 
exercise, and they will grow up to be men and 
women of whom you may be proud. 



(54) 



CHAPTER VI 

TO PROSPECTIVE ATHLETES 

The great secret of proper training for all 
kinds of athletic feats is to use common-sense. 
This is the keynote of success for all athletes. 

Common-sense in eating, common-sense in 
exercising, common-sense in sleeping, all form 
a combination that brings one to success. 

One thing that I want to impress upon the 
young athlete is not to overtax himself at the 
outset. This mistake has been the undoing of 
many a youth who would have developed into 
a big, strong athlete if he had not started with 
wrong ideas of how to train. 

Different people need different work. A 
frail, delicate boy cannot stand as vigorous 
work at first as a big, lusty chap ; and yet the 
little one has just as much chance as the big 
one if he only goes about things in the proper 
manner. 

Good health is the first essential of an 
athlete. If one is not healthy then he must 

(55) 



PHYSICAL CULTURE 

endeavor to build himself up in this direction 
before starting on any course of physical 
exercise. 

This can be done only by laying down 
certain rules and following them strictly. 
These rules are very simple. 

Six Rules for Young Athletes 

Do not drink. 

Do not smoke. 

Do not chew. 

Get all the sleep you can. 

Get all the pure, fresh air you can. 

Eat plain, wholesome food, and plenty of it. 

Adhere to these rules, and gradually, but 
surely, you will find yourself becoming stronger 
and stronger. Finally, the day will come when 
you will never know a sick moment. Then is 
the time to commence your exercising. At 
this stage another duty presents itself. 

Find Your Weak Points 

You must find out your weakest physical 
points. These must be built up so that they 
will correspond with the rest of your body. 

C56) 



TO PROSPECTIVE ATHLETES 

If your back is weak it must be strengthened; 
if your arms, your legs, or your chest are weak 
you must pay particular attention to these 
parts until you feel that they are as strong as 
the rest of your body. After this has been 
accomplished you are fairly upon the road to 
the making of a '' perfect physical man." Now 
comes the daily routine of regular training ; do 
not forget that this routine must never be 
overdone. It is just as harmful to overtrain, in 
fact more harmful, than it is not to train at all. 

You may easily ascertain just how much 
exercise your system can stand. Then regu- 
late your work accordingly. Gradually, not 
all at once, must you work your system up to 
the point where it is capable of standing the 
strain which you desire to place upon it. 

How to Train 

If you are training to be a runner, you must 
strengthen your legs and thighs. You must 
also see that your wind is good. If you want 
to wrestle, you must have good, strong back,* 
chest, and neck muscles, as well as strong arms 
and legs. This is also the case with a boxer. 
Every one of his muscles must be well devel- 

(57) 



PHYSICAL CULTURE 

oped. In addition to all this, he must learn to 
be quick — quick on his feet and quick with his 
hands and arms. Different forms of athletics 
require entirely different styles of training. 
Some do not require as much headwork as 
others. Perhaps the boxer has more need for 
clear, cool headwork than any other kind of an 
athlete. He has so many lessons to learn 
before he can be rated as even a fair boxer 
that it takes a long while to reach any sort of 
perfection. He has not only his body and 
muscles to build up, but his brain must be 
properly trained. All of this takes time, and 
can be done only by long, careful, systematic 
and faithful training and muscle building. 

One thing that I want particularly to impress 
upon the young athlete is the priceless value of 
a good home and pleasant home surroundings. 
Some boys and young men have an idea that 
an athlete must be "tough." This is all wrong, 
and it has been proved time and again that 
the athlete, whether a runner, wrestler, boxer, 
or anything else, can best fit himself for manly 
sports if he leads a clean, wholesome, good life. 
And this can best be found amid pleasant 
home surroundings. 

(58) 



PART II 



SELF-DEFENSE 



CHAPTER VII 

FIRST LESSON IN BOXING 

Cool Head and Good Temper Essential to 
Success 

Boxing is one of the best exercises that a 
young man can take up. The art of self- 
defense, as it is called, brings into play so many 
qualities and helps to develop so many traits of 
character which figure in one's daily life that 
it furnishes quite a moral training in itself. 

An even, peaceable temperament is devel- 
oped by boxing; patience is taught by the 
same means. A cool, clear head in moments 
of danger and confusion is always found in 
the man who knows how to use his fists for 
pleasure or protection, as the case may be. 

In boxing, as in everything else, there is a 
right and a wrong way. It is a long road to 
travel before one can be called even a fairly 
good boxer. At the start, however, it is a 
good plan to memorize certain rules which 
must be strictly followed. 

(6i) 



SELF-DEFENSE 

Three Cardinal Rules 

Keep cool. 

Do not get *' rattled/' 

Do not lose your temper. 

The mastery of these three rules is of more 
consequence than the learning of the many 
blows and guards which in time become the 
property of a boxer. The blows are learned 
naturally. It is not everyone, however, who 
realizes the importance of mastering the three 
rules which I have laid down. It can easily 
be seen of how much importance they are. 

If a person is cool and good-natured when 
boxing he has an advantage at once over one 
who loses his head, gets angry, and rushes 
headlong into danger. If you are boxing for 
exercise and pleasure a cool, clear head will 
help you to see every opening which your 
opponent offers. 

Keep Your Temper 

Do not get excited, and you will not lose a 
single chance of scoring a point. At the same 
time, you are good-natured and ready to laugh 
at any hard knocks you may receive yourself, 

(62) 



FIRST LESSON IN BOXING 

All this is training for the moment of real 
danger. 

You may be attacked in the street by foot- 
pads. They intend to rob you, and you may 
be in a lonely, dark locality. Of course, their 
first efforts are directed to rendering you help- 
less. Now, take the man who does not know 
how to box, who has never been drilled to keep 
cool and calm in moments of danger. What 
happens to him? He is probably found lying 
in the gutter in the gray light of early morning, 
his pockets rifled, and with possibly a fractured 

skull. 

Ruffians His Foes 

Then look at the man who as a boy learned 
to protect himself, who knows the science of 
self-protection, and who can stand firm and true 
before a couple of fast-flying fists. 

He is probably pitted against a couple of 
burly, clumsy, cowardly ruffians. They come 
at him with murder in their hearts. Does he 
lose his self-possession ? On the contrary, he 
waits for the attack, selects the toughest- 
looking one, with the idea of getting him out 
of the way first; measures his man carefully 
and then sends in a well-directed blow, right 

(63) 



SELF-DEFENSE 

or left as the case may be. Ten to one Mr. 
Ruffian goes down. That leaves ample time 
to vanquish footpad No. 2. 

This is only one picture to illustrate the 
great advantage of a knowledge of the art of 
self-defense and the qualities which go with it. 
A thousand instances might be quoted where 
the qualities which saved this man from the 
footpads would come into play. 

Learn to Box 

Therefore, I say everyone should learn to box ; 
let all parents encourage their boys to learn 
to protect themselves with their fists. It does 
not make ruffians of them; it does not teach 
them to be vicious ; it does not turn them into 
bullies. But it does make of them manly, 
upright, self-possessed, clear-headed men. 

They know their power and can afford to be 
merciful; they are cool, and therefore do not 
fear danger ; they are mild-tempered, and there- 
fore lovable. When they are right, they ad- 
vance with a determination which brooks no 
obstacle ; when they are wrong, they hold their 
peace. Learn to box : but be sure you learn 
the right way. 

(64) 




A LESSON IN STREET DEFENSE, No. 1.— AN OPPONENT THREATENS 
TO START A FIGHT WITH ME 




A LESSON IN STREET DEFENSE, No. 2.- 1 GRASP HIS COAT BY 
THE COLLAR, WHIP IT DOWN OVEirt HIS BACK AND ARMS, 
THUS ""AVING HIM POWERLESS 




A LESSON IN STREET DEFENSE, NO. 3.— H E IS NOW AT MY MERCY 




THE WRONG POSITION IN BOXING 




THE RIGHT POSITION IN BOXING 




STEPPING BACK WITH THE LEFT FOOT THE INCORRECT 
RETREAT 



i. 




-.S-V 


,-V;S~^7'?^-^;'^^,>gr^^^^|gi| 










i ^' .... 








f' * ' ■ iillllifflPllilii|liii''' J"-* ^"M^^IM 




Hi 


^A 


^^^'■^^''' '^''-'^^^■P^^^^^^^^^^ 


Jv&hijjjs;", ^^^Hj 


■ 


li 


llllllljl 


■^ 






l^^si ' s'^^^^^hHI 


* ■ vv::31bH 






w»^ 




i 




. : ' 4: 


r 






i • .^*.-A.A.ai 


liii 


s 


'''llllll 


k ' ■ v. 


,. ../■1|P^^^^^^^^^^^^ 


..^ Jiilli 


liisis,. 




1 ' 


''''l|iil 




llllll 


iliiliiifsiiiliiiilfl^^ 




I'll^^^ijlj 



STEPPING BACK WITH THE RIGHT FOOT— THE CORRECT 
RETREAT 



CHAPTER VIII 

RIGHT AND WRONG KINDS OF MUSCLES 
CONTRASTED 

Soft and Supple Muscles the Kind that Give 
Athletes Speedy Strength, and 
Lasting Power 

A PROFESSIONAL Strong man came into my 
gymnasium one day, and said, **I would like 
to be a boxer.'* 

"A boxer, eh?" I replied. **What makes 
you think you would make a good boxer ?" 

**Why, I am as strong as a lion. Just come 
in here and I will show you." 

And then this strong man went into my 
gymnasium and took the heavy weights and 
the heavy punching-bag and tossed them 
around like feathers. In a moment he was 
puffing and blowing like a porpoise, but he 
stepped back and looked at me with a smile. 
He certainly was a picture of strength. The 



SELF-DEFENSE 

muscles stood out all over his body in big 
knots. From head to foot he was one mass 
of knotty, protruding cords. 

**How is that for a starter?" he said. 

I did not say a word. His ignorance was 
pitiful to me. Walking over to one side of the 
room, I took a set of boxing gloves from the 
wall and handed him a pair. Following my 
lead he put them on. 

It took me about two minutes to show that 
man how useless, unwieldy, and impracticable 
his muscles were. He handled himself like a 
cart-horse. He was as slow on his feet as a 
messenger boy. His brain acted as did his 
muscles, slowly and stiffly. Although a. big 
man, weighing perhaps two hundred pounds, 
he did not make as good a showing with me as 
many amateur light-weights with whom I had 
put on the gloves. 

I think I showed him clearly the uselessness 
of his heavy weight-lifting muscles. They were 
good for one thing — the service for which they 
had been trained. 

Like every athlete in his profession he was 
muscle-bound. Those huge masses of muscle, 
gained at the expense of many hours of hard 

(74) 



DIFFERENT KINDS OF MUSCLES CONTRASTED 

work, were for all practical purposes of no 
more use than a hand-organ would be to a 
shipwrecked sailor on a raft in the middle of 
the Atlantic Ocean. 

In fact, such muscles serve to help shorten 
one's life. The muscle-bound man, with every 
fibre of his body drawn to a tension that pulls 
at the very heartstrings, most frequently dies 
with what is known as an ** athlete's heart." 

A muscle-bound man is worse than a skin- 
bound horse. He is as awkward and ungainly 
as a crocodile would be in a ballroom. Take 
him away from his chosen profession and he is 
all at sea. He is a frightful object lesson 
against the use of heavy dumb-bells, or heavy 
weights of any kind. 

The man or boy who wants to become quick, 
strong, and clever must avoid the use of heavy 
weights as carefully as though they were 
poisonous snakes. They completely destroy 
all that suppleness and agility which mark 
every detail of the clever athlete's work. 

A man who is a runner, jumper, boxer — in 
fact, anything except a heavy-weight lifter — 
can have no use for knotty, unwieldy masses 
of strength. 

(75) 



SELF-DEFENSE 

Even our best wrestlers nowadays recognize 
the fact that muscles of that kind are of no use 
to them. They know that there are right and 
wrong muscles just as well as they know there 
is a right and wrong way to wrestle. They 
know that such muscles bring them premature 
old age and early death. 

Thus it is that every ambitious young athlete 
should strive to train his muscles in the proper 
way. Light dumb-bells, Indian-clubs, and other 
muscle building weights should never be for- 
saken. 

Do not use heavy weights. 

Do not exercise too much. 



(76) 



CHAPTER IX 

BAG PUNCHING 

Do you want to become an expert bag 
puncher? 

Yes ? Well, there is nothing easier. There 
is not an art or athletic exercise that can be 
acquired so readily. You have to impress but 
one thing upon your mind — that is, that there 
can be absolutely no limit to the amount of 
practice that you must take. 

The merest novice can, by constant work, 
become a bag puncher of no mean ability in a 
surprisingly short space of time. 

That is encouraging, is it not? 

Another advantage that the exercise has is 
that it does not cost very much to rig up a 
platform and bag. Any boy can make a plat- 
form and fasten it to the ceiling of his wood- 
shed, attic, or cellar. Then he can save up his 
pennies until he gets two or three dollars. 
That will not buy the best punching-bag in the 
world, but it will buy one that will answer his 
purpose. 

(77) 



SELF-DEFENSE 

Have your platform about two feet above 
your head. Let the ball hang on a level with 
the bottom, and just about on a level with, or 
a little bit above, your shoulders. 

It is best when punching the ball to stand on 
the bare floor, not on a mat, as you are apt to 
become sluggish in your foot- work if you adopt 
the latter course. 

Wear regular gymnasium shoes, and the less 
clothes you have on the better. It will give 
you more freedom of movement. 

Put on small gloves. If you cannot get what 
are known as **punching-bag" gloves, take an 
old pair of kid gloves. Cut the ends of the 
fingers off if you wish, as the glove is worn 
simply to protect the knuckles and to give 
compactness to the hand. 

As to the different movements and blows, 
it would take up too much space to go into 
details. And, again, it is hardly necessary. 
Get the bag and you will soon teach yourself 
how to do the punching. 

At first you must be careful not to get hit by 
the ball when it rebounds from the platform 
after you strike it. This is only a preliminary 
danger, however. You will, soon become too 

( 78 ) 




PUNCHING THE BAG. IN A POSITION TO DELIVER LEFT 




PUNCHING THE BAG 



BAG PUNCHING 

light on your feet and expert at dodging with 
your head to be in danger from this source. 

Learn your straight blows, right from the 
shoulder, and the full swings first. Then grad- 
ually, after you have become fast and clever, 
learn the fancy movements. 

Practice just as much as you possibly can. 
That is, first and last, your most important 
lesson. 



(83) 



CHAPTER X 

RIGHT AND WRONG WAY OF USING THE FEET 

AND HANDS WHILE SPARRING— WHAT 

THE EXERCISE DEVELOPS 

Everyone should learn to box. It is as 
necessary to a physical education as swimming. 

A boy should be able to defend himself at all 
times from the attack of a bully or a ruffian, 
and there is no manlier way to do it than with 
his fists. In civilized localities it is only the 
coward who carries a knife or a pistol. 

President Roosevelt taught his boys to box. 
Most of the prominent men of the country, 
those who have made its history, learned to 
box when they were lads. 

As a health-giving exercise boxing has no 
equal. It develops all the large and important 
muscles of the body, legs and arms, and 
strengthens the lungs and quickens the eye. 

It gives a boy courage in the face of danger. 
It makes him calm and cool and never in a 
hurry to seek a quarrel, because the knowledge 

(84) 



USE OF THE HANDS AND FEET IN SPARRING 

that he can take care of himself renders him 
good-natured at affronts which would wound 
his pride were he unable to resent them. 

Easy to Learn 

Anybody can learn to box. But he must not 
think he will be a Terry McGovern the first 
time he puts on boxing gloves. It took little 
Terry a few years to be the great fighter he is 
now. He had to learn. 

You can learn, too, if you will do as I tell 
you. You will not need a man who teaches 
boxing to show you the ** blows" and ** stops" 
if you read these lessons with care and do not 
try to do too much at the commencement. 

The first thing to learn is the right way to 
use your feet. Almost as much depends on 
the way the feet and legs are used as on the 
hands and arms. The legs support and back 
up the arms when a blow is struck and also 
when a blow is stopped. 

The First Lesson 

For your first lesson in boxing do not think 
of your hands. Jump about on your toes 

085) 



SELF-DEFENSE 

as if you were dancing a hornpipe. Bend the 
knees and straighten them again. Spring from 
one foot to the other, forward and backward. 
Bring the left foot forward with a spring from 
the toe of the right, and do the same with the 
right foot forward. All this will make you 
quick and shifty on your feet, which is a most 
important requirement in a good boxer 

When you can jump about like this for 
fifteen minutes at a time without getting tired 
or losing your wind, and if you do it quickly 
you will find that it is not so easy as you think, 
it will be time to learn the way to stand when 
boxing. Of course, you never stand still. You 
should always keep your legs moving. 

Distance of the Feet 

Do not keep the feet too close together or 
too far apart If they are too close you do not 
have a solid stand and are easily knocked 
down. If they are spread too far you will not 
be able to quickly change their position, and 
that you must be able to do to land a good 
blow. 

Put the left foot forward in a straight line 
from the body. Bend the knee slightly and 

( 86 ) 



USE OF THE HANDS AND FEET IN SPARRING 

rest the foot on the toe. Have the weight of 
the body on the right foot, with the toe turned 
a little outward. Have this foot flat on the 
floor. 

Never stand stiffly. Keep shifting about, 
but do not change this general position unless 
certain blows are to be struck. I will explain 
them in a future lesson. Stand near a wall. 
Place your feet as I have told you. Now reach 
out your left fist and touch the wall with your 
knuckles. Have your arm almost straight, 
bent just a little at the elbow. Push back as 
hard as you can. If the • push throws you out 
of your position, your feet are too close 
together. 

Spread of the Legs 

If you cannot bring the right foot up to the 
left as quickly as you can hit a blow they are 
too far apart. The right foot should not be 
directly behind the left, but spread so that the 
body may not be easily upset sideways nor yet 
backward. 

When you step in for a blow take the spring 
from the right foot, lifting the body forward 
and steadying it with the left, 

(87) 



SELF-DEFENSE 

In landing a right-hand swing bring the right 
leg forward with the blow. This will bring 
the feet together. They should not be kept 
together a second after the blow lands. Either 
carry the right foot forward or bring it back 
again to the first position. If the feet are 
together it is very easy for the man with whom 
you are boxing to knock you down. 

In jumping backward from a blow take the 
spring from the left foot, using the toe. When 
you land have the feet in the same position, 
still ready for attack or defense. 

All this you can practice alone without an 
instructor or an opponent. Never mind about 
how you hit or what kind of blows you use. 

Persevere with your leg-work until you feel 
at home on your feet. It is the hardest 
lesson to learn, but if you learn it well you 
will see how much you will have advanced 
when you put on the gloves. 



(88) 



CHAPTER XI 

THE POISE IN BOXING 

In my first lesson on boxing I told you how- 
to use your feet. Now, we will suppose you 
have learned that correctly, and we will go to 
the next lesson : how to hold the body. 

The body of a boy or a man is the boiler. 
It is from there that all the steam comes that 
moves the machinery, the arms and legs. No 
matter how big and strong the arms and legs 
are, they will not be able to do anything unless 
the body gives them the power. So you see 
how much care you should take of the body. 
There is no exercise that will do so much to 
make the body strong and healthy and full of 
steam as boxing. 

Care must be observed not to do anything 
to offset the benefit of the exercise, such as 
smoking cigarettes or chewing tobacco. As 
for drinking beer or spirits, no one of common- 
sense will do that. Then, when the body is 
clean and full of vitality, there is always a 

(89) 



SELF-DEFENSE 

feeling of cheerfulness and good-nature. There 
is no desire to be quarrelsome. No one 
should learn to box so that he may bully it 
over others, but that he can defend himself 
from attack, and for the health and strength 
that the exercise gives. 

Wrong Beginning 

It is natural for the American boy to box. 
He picks up a bit of the art himself in sparring 
with his playmates. But the trouble with this 
is that he is likely to begin all wrong, and then 
he has to unlearn alf he knows before he can 
learn the right way. 

Quite recently I saw a case in point: two 
boys, without the knowledge, attempting to 
box. The way they held the body, feet, and 
hands was all wrong. The style of one boy 
was worse than that of the other. He held his 
body away back. A gentle push would have 
taken him off his feet. He had no brace with 
the body to back up the force of his own blow 
or to stand against that of his playmate. 

The other boy was not so bad, but his 
muscles were too stiff and his shoulders too 
square. Neither of the boys could move 

(90) 



THE POISE IN BOXING 

about quickly and easily. They were not 
supple or graceful. They did not have that 
sure movement of the body which gives to it so 
much health. Movement is fuel to the body. 
Where there is plenty of fuel there is plenty of 
steam. 

In taking your stand for a "bout" with the 
gloves, let the body lean a little bit forward 
from the hips. Have all the muscles loose. 
Put the left side forward. 'Do not stand with 
your body square to your opponent : it gives 
him a wider target to hit and does not allow 
you the swing of the body and shoulders which 
you need in order to strike a good blow. 

Hold your shoulders down, the left one 
particularly. This gives you length of reach 
and ease of arm movement. Keep your left 
arm out, but not straight. Always have your 
elbows bent a little. A perfectly straight arm 
is easily hurt. If the arm is bent a little at the 
elbow it gives it strength and quickness of 
action. 

Swing your body with the waist as a pivot. 
Do not have it *'set;" that is, held rigid. 
Always keep it swinging, not so hard as to tire 
you, but so that it is ever ready to start in any 

(91) 



SELF-DEFENSE 

direction. The body can start much quicker if 
it be moving than if it be still. 

Getting Away from Attack 

A boxer with his shoulders about his ears 
and his body held rigid cannot move quickly. 
When you jump back from an attack do not 
alter the position of your body ; in other 
words, go back with the body held in the same 
manner as when you began to spar. The 
reason for this is, that when you land away, on 
your feet, you are still in a position for either 
attack or defense should your opponent follow 
you. 

The man who would evade an onslaught by 
thrusting back his head and body so that he 
is almost falling backward is all wrong. His 
adversary could follow the attack and easily 
have the ''backward" man at his mercy. 

Fill the Lungs 

When boxing, keep your stomach in and 
your chest out ; not stifBy, but naturally. It 
may be awkward at first, but you will soon 
learn how easy it is and wonder how you ever 
stood any other way. 

(92) 



THE POISE IN BOXING 

By keeping the stomach in and the chest full 
of air you enjoy all the lung strengthening 
benefits of boxing and keep the stomach out of 
harm's way. That part of the body is always 
a point of attack and should be protected. 

I will next tell how to hold the hands while 
boxing. 



(93) 



CHAPTER XII 

POSITIONS FOR THE HANDS 

In my last chapter I told how to hold the 
body while boxing. The position of the body 
plays a most important part in the art of self- 
defense. Now, that you have learned the 
correct way of holding the body, I shall tell 
you how to hold the hands. 

In boxing never have the muscles **set" and 
tense. Always have all the muscles of the 
arms and body and legs loose and ready for 
action. Hold your hands open. Never close 
your fist, except at the moment when you land 
a blow. The reason for this is plain : holding 
your fist closed strains the muscles of the 
forearm and uses up a certain part of your 
strength unnecessarily. Always remember 
that you should never use any physical force 
until the moment arrives when you need it. 
Do not have your muscles strained and rigid. 
Keep everything loose. It is easy to do so, 
and the best exhibition al.ways comes from a 

(94) 



POSITIONS FOR THE HANDS 

man who is not muscle-bound. In landing a 
blow remember this particular piece of advice : 
never hit with the thumb. Always keep the 
thumb up, and when you land a punch have 
the impact and your opponent's head in such 
relation that your hand will not be injured; 
that is, use the first two knuckles of the hand. 

In hitting a blow never close the hand until 
the blow is landed. The reason for this is that 
it strains the muscles of the forearm and tires 
the boxer needlessly. Holding the hands open 
not only relieves the muscles from any un- 
necessary strain, but keeps a wider space of 
glove always ready to defend from attack. 

Now, in stopping a blow there is a wrong 
and a right way. Always turn the palm of the 
glove outward in stopping a blow. Keep the 
hand open. This presents a larger surface to 
the glove of your opponent and will do more 
to prevent his blow from landing than if your 
fist was closed. 

In guarding always keep your elbows close 
to your sides. This takes in the benefit of 
the forearm., and if the glove be held close to 
the face all that side of the body is protected. 
Never land a punch without having the block 

( 95 ) 



SELF-DEFENSE 

ready to meet the counter. Every time you 
start a punch remember that your opponent 
intends to come back with another punch. 

The particular art of the game is to land 
a blow without a return ; but every time you 
make an attack you render yourself liable 
to an offensive demonstration from the man 
with whom you are sparring. 

One of the best uses of the hands in boxing 
is not to use them. When a blow is struck the 
proper way to avoid it is not to stop it with the 
hand or forearm, but to **slip" it. By **slip- 
ping" a blow, I mean that you should get away 
from it in such a manner that no part of your 
opponent's arm touches you. This is known as 
"ducking" and "side-stepping." For instance, 
if your sparring partner swings his right for 
the side of your face, lower your head and let 
the blow go over. Do not "duck" in toward 
him. Let your head go under the blow and 
away from it to the side. This prevents your 
opponent from landing an upper-cut, which he 
would do if you were close enough to him. 

Always remember that the hands are a 
most important factor in boxing. Never land 
a blow that will hurt the hands. When you 

(96) 



POSITIONS FOR THE HANPS 

lead a straight punch, keep th£7miimb up. 
When you swing, always keep the knuckles 
up. A blow is landed with the first two 
knuckles of the hand. 

There is another thing to tell a young man 
if he wants to succeed in boxing : Take your 
chance when you see it, and hit from where 
your hand is. 

Why do I win fights? Because I see the 
chance when it comes, and I take it. 

Every little while a man leaves himself open, 
but it is only for a second — it is not even a 
second, it is less than the tenth part of a 
second. You must seize that chance and strike 
the instant you see the opening. 

The foolish figbter draws back his hand to 
hit harder, but by the time he has drawn his 
arm back the man has protected himself, and 
the chance is gone. p^ 

What I say to young men, and what I ^ay t<5 
everybody, is this : Do just what I do. If you 
want to make a success in life, always hit when 
you see the chance; do not draw your arm 
back ; hit from where your hand is, and you have 
got him. That is my motto. It is no trouble 
to whip your opponent when you use that. 

(97) 



CHAPTER XIII 

HOW TO LAND BLOWS 

Having learned how to use the feet, hands, 
and body, I will now explain how some of the 
blows used in boxing are struck. I will not 
show you all the blows in this lesson. It would 
take more than a chapter to show them all. 

You have not forgotten that the feet must 
be held apart, with the left leg before the right 
and the left knee bent a little. Also, that the 
weight of the body rests on the right leg. You 
remember what I told you about keeping the 
muscles free and easy, and not held stiffly. All 
this is important in striking a blow. 

It is not only the hand and arm that are 
used in striking ; the legs, body, and shoulders 
also come into play. There used to be an old 
idea of striking with the arm working like the 
piston-rod of an engine. In story-books the 
hero always knocks down the villain with a 
blow ''straight from the shoulder." 

That is all changed now. A blow -to have 
force must have the **send" of the legs and 

(98) 



HOW TO LAND BLOWS 

the swing of the body with it. A straight 
blow has not the telling force of a swing. This 
is because the swing has all the weight of the 
body behind it. 

A Simple Blow 

An important blow is the straight left lead 
for the face. It is a simple blow and easily 
landed. But it is not one of the hard raps in 
boxing. 

To deliver a straight left lead watch your 
chance when the other has his guard low. 
Step in quickly. Swing the left shoulder 
forward from the hip, at the same time sending 
the arm out in a straight line. As the arm 
goes out shut the fist. Keep the palm of the 
hand turned inward and partly downward so 
that the top knuckles will strike. 

While you are striking you must not forget 
that your opponent may strike you at the same 
time. Therefore, you must learn how to pre- 
vent him. I will tell you how to do this in a 
future lesson. 

Will Confuse a Boxer 
The straight lead has many uses. It will 
confuse a boxer so thg,t he cannot tell what to 

LofC. (99) 



SELF-DEFENSE 

do. A good time to send in this blow is when 
your opponent starts a swing at you. 

A straight lead in the face will stop many a 
hard swing before it can land. It will also go 
through an open guard when a swing would be 
warded off. 

The best time to send in a straight blow is 
when your opponent is coming toward you. 
This lends added force to the stroke. Beside, 
it may stop the other's rush. 

In landing this blow I told you to send the 
arm out in a straight line. I do not mean that 
you should straighten the arm entirely. Have 
the elbow bent a little, as this prevents a strain 
at this point. If the arm be straightened out 
there may be a snap at the elbow, and an 
injury there is almost impossible to cure. 

Always be careful not to injure your arms or 
hands when striking. It sometimes happens 
that a blow does more harm to the boxer who 
delivers it than to the one who receives it. 

A straight right lead is like one with the left 
hand, only, of course, the right is used. In this 
lead the right leg is brought a little forward, 
adding its swing to the force of the blow. This 
stroke is not so often used as the left lead. 

(lOO) 



HOW TO LAND BLOWS 

The reason for this is that the right glove is 
so much further away from its intended mark. 
Then, again, the right arm is used more for 
a guard and for heavy swinging. Now we 
come to the swing. 

One of the Best Blows 

The right-hand swing, when rightly deliv- 
ered, is one of the best blows in boxing. It is 
hard to land, as it travels in a half-circle and 
has a long distance to go. This makes it easy 
to avoid or stop. 

In landing this punch wait until you get your 
opponent's guard low. You can do this by 
making believe to hit him in the body. Then, 
when you think you have the opening, drop 
your right hand down and back with the elbow 
bent so that the forearm and upper arm are 
almost at right angles. From this position 
throw your arm in a half-circle up and over to 
the side of your opponent's head. 

Close your fist while the blow is travelling. 
Keep the palm of the glove up and down in a 
line with the body. As the blow starts swing 
the right leg and all the right side of the body 
with it. Just as it is landing stiffen the arm 

(lOl) 



SELF-DEFENSE 

and push the shoulder forward, turning the 
body at the hips. The force of the blow should 
not be ended the moment it lands. Keep it 
going : it will have more effect that way. 

The first two knuckles of the hand should 
land the blow. If you throw your palm down 
and hit with the thumb you are liable to break 
it even with the protection of a glove. 

The left swing is made with the left hand in 
the same manner as the right swing, only the 
position of the legs is not changed. It does 
not have as much force as the right swing, 
because it does not get a like shift of the body 
with it. But it is easier to land, as it travels 
a shorter distance. 



( 102) 



CHAPTER XIV 

COURAGE THE KEYNOTE OF A BOXER'S 
SUCCESS 

Lack of Self-confidence Often Contributes to the 
Defeat of a Good Fighter 

This is a lesson on courage. There is no 
trait of character which a boxer needs more 
than this. Courage of the highest order — not 
only physically, but morally — is essential to 
success as a pugilist. I say "as a pugilist," 
because it is in that direction that my experi- 
ence lies. However, I have learned that this 
question of moral as well as physical courage 
is really the keynote to success. 

There never was a boxing champion, or a 
champion, in fact, in any line of sports, who was 
a covv^ard. They have all been fearless, and in 
nearly every instance morally superior men. 
Their sense of right and wrong has been as 
keenly developed as has their physical superi- 
ority. They have not only felt their power of 

(103) 



SELF-DEFENSE 

mastery over their less fortunate fellow-men, 
but they have been possessed of the moral 
courage that comes with the knowledge of 
right. 

It is courage that tells in every walk of life. 
This it is that leads the gallant soldier to 
victory ; that carries the stout-hearted cycle 
champion under the wire a winner. The 
courageous man knows not the word ''failure." 
His password is ''victory," and his golden rule 
reads, "Be sure you are right, then go ahead." 

The boy who is learning to box must be 
courageous. He must not know the word 
fear. It is not physical strength, or even the 
cleverness that comes to an expert boxer, that 
wins battles. It is moral courage. If a boxer 
be ever so clever, be he ever so strong, he 
cannot win battles unless he is courageous. 
And he cannot be courageous unless he has 
the moral strength of "right." 

Take "Right" and pit it against "Might," 
and in nine instances out of ten "Right" will 
score the victory. So be sure you are right 
before you go ahead. 

Another element that contributes largely to 

the success of a boxer is self-confidence. If a 

( 104 ) 



COURAGE THE KEYNOTE OF SUCCESS 

man is not self-confident he cannot hope to 
win battles. I have noticed in my experience 
in the ring how often a boxer will be defeated 
simply owing to lack of self-confidence. Men 
whom I have met and defeated in a round or 
two have^ gone out a few weeks or months 
later and put up wonderful fights. 

Won in Other Battles 

These men have taken blows and received 
punishment which I never dreamed of inflicting 
upon them, and come out of those battles 
victorious. In their contests with me they 
simply lacked - confidence. I had gained a 
reputation as a hard-hitter and. winner of 
battles, and it was therefore lack of moral self- 
reliance that defeated these men as soon as I 
landed a few blows. The blows I gave them 
had neither the speed nor the force of those 
which the same men took unflinchingly from 
men of no reputation. Therefore, do not for- 
get that you must be morally courageous 
before you can hope to win battles in the 
struggle of life. There is no better moral in 
the world to follow than this, ** Be sure you 
are right, then go ahead." 
( 105 ) 



CHAPTER XV 

HOW THE HEAVY MAN SHOULD TRAIN AND 
FIGHT 

The big men often do not know how to handle 
themselves when in a fight, so I will tell them. 

The greatest mistake that big men make is 
in spending so much of their time in doing all 
kinds of work to develop their muscles and 
wind and hitting powers, and so little in study- 
ing out the tricks of the game. Any big, 
heavy athlete has an immense advantage, if he 
wants to become a boxer, right at the start. 
He has the power; all he lacks is the knowl- 
edge how to use it to the best advantage. I 
will give him three rules to follow : 

Be aggressive. 

Do not be careless. 

Remember that you have the punch. 

Your natural strength and weight are 
enough to put you on the aggressive at all 
times. You are not like a little, weak chap 
who is forced to keep away from his opponent 
and protect himself. Your mere weight is 

(106) 



HOW THE HEAVY MAN SHOULD TRAIN 

bound to give you the upper hand over an 
opponent if you keep boring in at him. But 
at the same time you must not let this idea of 
forcing matters make you careless. It is so 
easy to fight in a slipshod, careless fashion. 
And it is just as easy for the other fellow to 
suddenly reach out and hit you a blow that 
puts you down and out when he catches you 
in one of your careless moods. 

The idea of ''taking a punch for the oppor- 
tunity to give one" is all right if you are 
careful to see that the punch which you **take" 
does not land on a vital spot. 

As to the next item in a big man's fighting 
schedule — his ability to give a punch that will 
bring down his man — too much attention 
cannot be given to his education upon this 
line. 

He is built upon lines that give him a 
natural advantage for sending in a hard blow. 
He should cultivate his ability in this line, 
and study out how he can land the hardest 
blow. 

Remember you have weight to add speed 
to the blow if you only throw it behind your 
arni^ 

( 107 ) 



SELF-DEFENSE 

Do not waste your energy and strength in 
hitting lightly; study well just where to land 
the blow, and when you hit do it with all the 
strength and force and weight you can muster. 

Just as your fist strikes your opponent's 
body, set your arm rigid and throw your weight 
against it. 

When you have knocked your opponent 
down do not rush at him as soon as he is on 
his feet. 

Take your time. Feint him once or twice, 
thus confusing him. Then he will probably 
leave an opening, and you can administer the 
knockout without danger to yourself. 

I have seen men unduly eager to finish an 
opponent whom they have knocked down or 
dazed, rush into the fight, only to receive a wild 
swing on the jaw and meet defeat just at the 
moment when the battle was all in their hands 
— because of failure to defend themselves. 

Points for the Big Fighter to Remember 

Do not fight on the defensive ; be aggressive. 
Keep cool at all times. 

Do not get careless, particularly when you 
think you are winning. 

(108) 



HOW THE HEAVY MAN SHOULD TRAIN 

Remember that your weight gives you a 
great advantage. 

Use this weight to add greater force to your 
blows. 

Put in every blow as if you meant it to be 
the last 



109 



CHAPTER XVI 

THE WAY TO STRIKE A HARD BLOW 

Muscles of the Shoulders Play the Most 

Prominent Part in Landing a 

Knockout 

"How can I learn to strike a hard blow?'* 
That is a question that is asked of me 
frequently by both young and middle-aged 
men, so I am going to tell them. There is 
neither trick nor art worth mentioning in strik- 
ing a hard blow. The mere landing of a hard 
blow, be it on the face, head, or body, is not a 
question of skill. It is strength, and nothing 
but strength, that sends in the blows which are 
commonly called '* hard.'* 

Why Anyone Can Learn to Hit Hard 

For this reason anybody can learn to hit 
hard. If it took skill, there might be some 
people who would not be able to master the 
trick well enough to land the blow. But there 

(no) 



THE WAY TO STRIKE A HARD BLOW 

does not live the man, woman, or child, be they 
moderately healthy, who cannot, with sufficient 
patience and exercise, bring themselves finally 
to a point where they can land a truly hard 
blow. 

The muscles of the shoulders play the most 
important part in the delivery of a hard blow. 
Take any boxer who has finely developed back 
and shoulder muscles and you will find that he 
is a stout hitter. No matter how weak his 
biceps and forearm muscles may be, in com- 
parison with those of his shoulders and back, 
if the latter have the power he will be what 
is commonly known as a " knocker^out." 

Of course, it is to one's advantage to have 
well-developed biceps and forearms, as this will 
add to the compactness and solidity of the 
blow. 

Muscles Most. Easily Developed 

There are no muscles of the body that are 
more readily developed than those of the 
shoulders, back, and arms. A rubber exerciser, 
such as can easily be fastened upon any door- 
frame, a light pair of dumb-bells, and regular 

breathing exercises will accomplish the object. 

(Ill) 



SELF-DEFENSE 

Like every other kind of exercise, however, 
regularity counts for everything. Ten or 
fifteen minutes' work in the morning, a short, 
stiff walk, a dozen full, deep breaths, forcing 
the air down Into the stomach and out again 
through the nose, and the same routine at 
night, will soon endow you with the power of 
hard hitting. But you must pursue such a 
course of training with preciseness and regu- 
larity to secure the desired result. 

Punching the bag Is the best exercise for 
developing the shoulders, back, and arms. It 
is the primary school of hard punching. Every 
muscle of the body is brought into play. It 
trains the eye and schools the brain to act 
quickly. You gain in both delivery and de- 
fense. 



(1X2) 



CHAPTER XVII 



THE PLAN FOR AN AMATEUR'S SUCCESSFUL 
ENCOUNTER 

All amateur boxers are inclined to be 
nervous. This is a fault. The best way to cure 
it is to do all the boxing you can with men 
whom you know you can best, but men who 
will give you a hard battle. Take your lessons 
from a competent professional teacher. 

After boxing a while with men to whom the 
gloves and the ring are as familiar as their 
daily meals, the amateur game will seem like 
child's play to you. That is one hint for you. 
Now for another. Be sure you go into the 
ring in good physical condition. Get your 
stomach '* right'' and keep it "right." Be 
careful not to catch cold. There must have 
been no training on hot birds and cold bottles ; 
no theatre parties, late suppers, or cotillons. 

When you step into the centre of the ring 
do not rush blindly at your man. I have seen 
many amateurs do that. If the other fellow 

("3) 



SELF-DEFENSE 

comes at you that way stick out your left hand 
as hard and as often as you can, and jab him 
in the face. If things go quietly, however, you 
should feel your opponent out well. Use your 
cleverness to the best of your ability to confuse 
him. If you are successful in that then comes 
the time to be aggressive. Jab him, if you can, 
with your left. Failing this, send in both 
hands, straight from the shoulder, to his face 
and head. Keep at this until you get his 
guard up. If he finds you fighting at his head 
all the time he will forget to protect his 
stomach and wind. 

When he forgets, the time has come for you 
to get in your fine work. Watch your oppor- 
tunity well, and when the proper moment 
comes step in as close to him as you can, 
and a little to one side, and strike with 
your left or right hand, whichever is con- 
venient, hard in his solar plexus. Throw every 
pound of your weight behind the blow, put all 
your strength in it, and pivot slightly on your 
foot as it lands. 

If you execute the blow properly, it is almost 
certain to score a knockout. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

THE FAMOUS BLOWS OF ROBERT FITZSIMMONS 

Photographed During a Boxing Bottt with 

George Dawson^ Physical Instructor 

of the Chicago Athletic Club 




THROWING THE LEFT-HAND LEAD OF YOUR OPPONENT UP WITH 
YOUR LEFT AND DELIVERING THE RIGHT-HAND BODY-PUNCH 




> 2t 

3 < 

u -> 

Q CO 

Q H 

z z 

< UJ 

z 

H O 

U. Q. 

U 0. 

-J o 

I z 

h O 

z 
o 

Q 

Q 

Z 
< 

I 











.* 


# .1 ■■' 




m^^'' 


''\ 


.^^■ 




i 




^ 


' 










V 




THE FAMOUS SHIFT. AFTER DELIVERING THE SOLAR-PLEXUS 
BLOW WITH THE LEFT, YOU WHIP THE SAME HAND UP TO 
THE JAW WITHOUT MOVING THE POSITION OF THE FEET 

This blow retained Fitzsimmons the championship of the world by 
defeating James J. Corbett at Carson City, March 17, 1897) 




FOUL PIVOT-BLOW 



PART III 

THE LIFE AND RING BATTLES OF ROBERT 
FITZSIMMONS 



CHAPTER XIX 

AN ACCOUNT OF THE WARRIOR 

BY A. J. DREXEL BIDDLE 

The fighting record of Robert Fitzsimmons 
is conceded by the leading authorities on 
pugilism throughout the world to be by far 
the greatest and most remarkable record 
held by any one pugilist in the annals and 
history of the prize ring. Early in his career 
he began fighting the great pugilists and the 
champions, and his long list of speedy victories, 
first in Australia and then during the past 
twelve years in this country, over leading 
aspirants for both middle-weight and heavy- 
weight championship honors, has won for him 
universal recognition as the greatest fighter 
the ring has ever had. After many de- 
cisive victories over the great fighters of 
Australia, Fitzsimmons came to this country, 
where, as the easy victor in stormy and 
sensational knockout battles, he soon became 
the terror of all pugilistic aspirants. Since 
November, 1889, he has fought thirty-six 

(143) 



LIFE OF ROBERT FITZSIMMONS 

important battles, not enumerating his many 
quick victories over pugilists of little note, and 
in twenty-eight of these important battles he 
knocked out his opponents : in thirty-three he 
scored decisive victories. 

In the twenty-eight famous battles in which 
Fitzsimmons scored knockouts, twenty were 
against the world's greatest fighters — Demp- 
sey, Maher, Hall, Creedon, Corbett, RuhHn, 
Sharkey, and others of like note — and the 
average number of rounds of each of these 
twenty knockout battles would figure out at 
about three rounds to the battle. 

Aside from these twenty knockouts of 
pugilistic stars is the enviable record scored by 
Fitzsimmons in Chicago, about two months 
previous to the opening of the World's Fair. 
It was there, in a single evening, that he 
encountered and knocked out seven pugilistic 
aspirants : each of these men tipped the scales 
at over two hundred pounds, and the largest 
was two hundred and forty pounds in weight, 
and six feet seven and a half inches in height. 
It is here interesting to note the most remark- 
able fact in the history of Robert Fitzsimmons : 
in every one of his long list of battles he 

(144) 



AN ACCOUNT OF THE WARRIOR 

fought under the middle-weight limit (which is 
one hundred and fifty-eight pounds). At the 
time he knocked out the seven heavy-weight 
boxers in Chicago, he tipped the scales at one 
hundred and fifty-two pounds. 

Although a detailed description of the many 
sensational encounters in which Fitzsimmons 
has figured would prove of absorbing interest, 
such an account would in itself necessarily fill 
several large volumes. Aside from the fact 
that space prevents, it is not the purpose in 
this work on physical culture and self-defense 
by Fitzsimmons to give a detailed history of 
the author: his modesty does not permit of 
this, and therefore such records only are given 
as public interest demands. Mr. Fitzsimmons 
has fought in all three hundred and twenty- 
seven battles and lost one. It is claimed that 
he was robbed of one with Sharkey after 
knocking him out twice. 

During Mr. Fitzsimmons' preparation of the 
present volume, when the newspapers through- 
out the world were daily filled with announce- 
ments thereof, and the many millions of 
physical culture enthusiasts, as well as invalids 
and weaklings with a yearning to learn how to 

(145) 



LIFE OF ROBERT FITZSIMMONS 

become strong, were awaiting its publication, 
both author and pubHsher received hundreds 
of letters from people prominent in the sport- 
ing world. The majority of these letters urged 
that records and official descriptions of Fitz- 
simmons' ring battles be included in his book. 
It is in view of these requests, which have 
come from New Zealand, Australia, India, 
Canada, and England, as well as the United 
States, that three of the author's most famous 
encounters are hereafter described. 

They are, respectively, his battle in 1897 
with Corbett for the heavy-weight champion- 
ship of the world, and his fights in 1900 with 
Ruhlin and Sharkey respectively. The two 
latter battles are unexceptionally remarkable, 
in that they were fought and won within a 
period of two weeks' time, and against two of 
the most famous pugilists the world has ever 
seen : great, powerful fellows, each many years 
3^ounger and many pounds heavier than Fitz- 
simmons. A fourth encounter of importance, 
and the first in order of significance, was 
Fitzsimmons' battle with Dempsey for the 
middle-weight championship of the world. This 

fight is described in the Introduction. 

(146) 



CHAPTER XX 

THE HEAVY-WEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE 



BY THOMAS T. WILLIAMS 



The fight began at 12.05 o'clock, on March 
17, 1897, with all the preliminaries, pomp, and 
frippery of a dress parade. All the fancies of 
pugilism were aired in the men's respective 
corners. Only one thing was omitted, the 
customary handshake, that old fiction used 
under the English law to suggest that it 
was only a test of endurance and skill and 
not of malice. 

**I will shake hands with Fitzsimmons when 
he has whipped me," said Corbett to me on the 
occasion of that memorable meeting on the 
high-road, and in an hour from the time the 
fight began he kept his word. 

Fitzsimmons earned that handshake. He 
fought his fight like a game man ; he fought it 
his own way ; he fought it uphill against odds 
which, in the' fifth round, could only have been 

( 147 ) 



LIFE OF ROBERT FITZSIMMONS 

represented by lo to i. He fought for his 
life ; he fought for his wife, who cheered him 
by her presence, and he received blows that 
would have reduced any other man now before 
the public to subjection in much less time than 
this fight lasted. 

To say that the unexpected happened would 
not be true. It was the expected that hap- 
pened. We all expected to see Corbett have 
the best of the fight right along, emerge from 
the ring practically unmarked, and win the fight 
unless Fitzsimmons got in one punch. Corbett 
was looking for that punch himself, his seconds 
were looking for it, and yet Fitzsimmons was 
able to catch him off his guard long enough to 
plant the blow that reversed all ring form, and 
that made a middle-weight champion over the 
best heavy-weight of the century and won the 
Australian a fortune. 

To describe the fight in the language of the 
ring would convey but little meaning to those 
who have not devoted the whole of their lives to 
pugilistic phraseology. The hooks and count- 
ers, leads and swings, clinches and pushes, and 
all that sort of thing can be seen on the 

kinetoscope at five cents a peep. I did not see 

(148) 



THE HEAVY-WEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE 

them. I saw the fight as a whole, but not in 
its details. I happened to see the blow in the 
stomach that ended it, and a few other critical 
ones, but the grand mixture of attack and 
defense was lost. 

I saw a face that will haunt me until time 
has effaced it from my memory. It was a 
mixture of pathos and tragedy. There was 
no savagery in it, but some intelligence. 
There was a leer and a grin and a look of 
patient suffering and dogged courage. It was 
the face of a brave man fighting an uphill 
fight, with lip torn and bleeding, nostrils 
plugged with coagulated blood, ears torn and 
swollen, eyes half-closed and blinking in the 
sunlight, with every line and muscle drawn to 
the angle of suffering, but withal watchful, 
intent, and set. 

Fitzsimmons' face was not cruel or passion- 
ate, but was clear, and never once did he lose 
his hope of success, his watchfulness over his 
opponent, his waiting for an opening. It was 
one face from the time that first blood was 
claimed and allowed in the fifth round until 
the victory was in his hands. You cannot com- 
pare it with anything, for there is not another 

(249) 



LIFE OF ROBERT FITZSIMMONS 

human countenance like Fitzslmmons' when he 
is fighting against odds. 

Corbett had the crowd. It was plain from 
the start that on this St. Patrick's day an Irish- 
American had the sympathies of the people 
against the Englishman who came here by way 
of the Antipodes. Then, too, the crowd was 
largely from Corbett' s home in San Francisco ; 
and California, though not always true to her 
native sons, did send her best wishes to 
Corbett that day. The cries of "Good boy, 
Jim !" were heard whenever Corbett made a 
hit. Fitzsimmons answered these with a look 
that said, "Wait and see whether you want to 
shout for Corbett after the finish." The look 
was not due to intention — Fitzsimmons' pur- 
pose evidently being to smile — but when one's 
lips are an inch away from the teeth and one's 
nose is reduced to a pulp the finish of a smile 
is hard to guess. 

Corbett's face changed during the fight. 
The change came at the end of the tenth 
round, when, much to the surprise of every- 
one, Fitzsimmons was still in the ring, and 
Corbett, too wise to go in and finish him, was 
wondering why the Australian took so much 

(150) 



THE HEAVY-WEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE 

pounding. The high, proud look of confidence 
that had marked Corbett's appearance from the 
beginning suddenly gave place to an appear- 
ance of exhausted vitality and doubt. He 
found himself with less energy than he ex- 
pected, and he could not understand why that 
bruised and battered piece of flesh in front of 
him, which bore so little resemblance to 
humanity, continued to face him. A minute 
before that look came over Corbett, odds of 
lo to I on him would have found no takers. 
A minute after wise ring-goers were whisper- 
ing, ''The champion is losing his steam," and 
Bill Naughton, monotonously counting off the 
blows to a stenographer, said, *'Jim is gone." 
There was such a story told by the ashen gray- 
ness of Corbett's face that things brightened 
in Fitzsimmons' corner, and Delaney looked as 
though he would like to cry. From that time 
on there were two men in the fight. Corbett, 
unhurt, but not confident; Fitzsimmons, 
bruised and beaten and torn and bloody, but 
waiting for his chance. 

Going back to the beginning, there is not 
much to tell of the first two rounds. The 
boxing was light, Corbett endeavoring to hit 

(151) 



LIFE OF ROBERT FITZSIMMONS 

and get away without return, and Fitzsimmons 
simply waiting. In the second round, after 
Fitzsimmons had received a few blows in the 
face, he grew more aggressive, and, driving 
Corbett into his corner, attempted to punch 
him, but the big champion laughed and ducked 
and got out of what seem.ed to be a very tight 
place. It was " Good boy, Jim !" all over the 
ring, and, *' Good boy, Jim !" again when 
Corbett landed twice in Fitzsimmons' stom^ach 
with blows that might have been dangerous 
had Fitzsimmons been the least out of con- 
dition. It was noticeable that Corbett could 
hit and hit and generally get away from Fitz- 
simmons' returns. The confident air became 
more confident and the applause from the 
Californians more general. 

In the third round the spectators had a 
chance to see who had the best of the clinches, 
which were frequent. Fitzsimmons would try 
little jabbing hits that reached Corbett's neck 
or body and did no harm. Corbett seemed to 
think clinches were his best timxC for a knock- 
out blow, but it is not easy to knock out a 
man whose head, like a turtle's, has a habit of 
ducking in between two enormous masses of 

(152) 



THE HEAVY-WEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE 

muscle, and its only presentation a side view. 
Whenever Corbett had attempted a heavy 
blow and failed, and sometimes when he did 
not fail, Fitzsimmions would lay his head over 
Corbett's shoulder and smile at the southwest 
corner. 

In the fourth round It looked- like a fight, 
and all around I could hear the enthusiastic 
sports saying, *' Oh ! " and ^*Ah ! " and smack- 
ing their lips over the stiff blows that Corbett 
sent Into Fitzsimmons' face and body. They 
were not knockout blows, but blows at about 
half-strength, delivered with the arm stiff, and 
were meant to hurt and not to kill. 

Fitzsimmons soon showed the effects of 
them. His face began to swell, and he would 
lie on Corbett's shoulder as though in the hope 
of obtaining some respite from the punching, 
which was annoying. Corbett grew confident 
as this round progressed, and went to his 
corner as happy as a boy. It was " Good boy, 
Jim !" and *' Punch his head off!" and '' Knock 
the Australian's head off!" but only one man 
said '' Take your time, Fitzsimmons !" Corbett 
looked like a winner then, and he looked like a 
winner all through the fifth round, when he 

(^53) 



LIFE OF ROBERT FITZSIMMONS 

drew first blood from FItzsimmons' lip, and 
Siler allowed the claim which Billy Delaney 
promptly made. 

I began to feel sorry for Mrs. Fitzslm- 
mons then, and wished she was not there. 
She was anxious and Fitzsimmons was dis- 
tressed, and Martin Julian's face bore all kinds 
of woe. Little Roeber was thoughtful for the 
first time this year, and Dan Hickey suffered 
as much as his chief. 

In Corbett's corner, how different ! Delaney, 
calm and confident ; Donaldson, a trifle jubi- 
lant ; Billy Woods and **Kid" Egan both 
smiling, and occasionally turning around to 
remark to some spectator, " Six rounds." 

The blood seemed to arouse Corbett's 
temper, and he went at Fitzsimmons with more 
determination than he had shown before. He 
hit him time and again, and I could see Mrs. 
Fitzsimmons wince, right across the ring. 
There were words of sympathy, too, for her in 
the sixth round, when, after the clinch, Corbett 
landed a tremendous blow that brought Fitz- 
simmons to his knees, sent the blood spurting 
from his nose, and distorted his face almost 
beyond recognition. Everybody wondered 

(154) 



THE HEAVY-WEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE 

whether Fitzsimmons would recover, but the 
ninth second found him on his feet and still 
fighting. Again and again Corbett hit him 
until his own gloves were covered with blood 
from Fitzsimmons' face, and his body was 
smeared a glaring crimson from the same 
source. 

Smiling, confident, and erect, Corbett poked 
at his now crouching adversary. Someone in 
his corner said : " Look out, Jim, he is kidding. 
Do not go near him. He is foxy." Who 
knows but that remark gave Fitzsimmons the 
championship. There was no deception in 
that bruised face, no foxiness in the eyes that 
were drawn down to tiny points, showing 
nothing but patience and determination. 

The services of the seconds at the end of the 
round made Fitzsimmons presentable, and the 
minute was a grateful rest to him. When he 
came up he began his hard hitting, and the 
spectators thought he had determined to finish 
the fight right there or go to the floor. But 
no. When he found his blows did not reach 
the clever man in front of him, he changed his 
tactics and waited, taking the punishment that 
came to him as gamely and as doggedly as a 

(^55) 



LIFE OF ROBERT FITZSIMMONS 

bulldog would take a beating — and still there 
was nothing savage about him. He would 
punch, and Corbett allowed him to land once 
to feel his bfow. It v\/-as feeble, and we all 
looked for a finish then. We expected to see 
Corbett dash in and knock his head back, as 
the crowd advised. A right-hand swing from 
Fitzsimmons, which missed him, made him 
change his mind and keep away— at least that 
is what it seemed to me. 

The eighth round was sickening. Face 
smashes and body blows, punches in the neck 
and punches under the heart were Fitzsimmons' 
portion. It would have all been over but for 
his gameness. The betting men v/ere almost 
ready to cash in their Corbett tickets. 

So, also, in the ninth round, he was hit and 
hit and hit again. Fitzsimmons would put his 
face over Corbett's shoulder and hang for 
respite. *'Why doesn't that game fellow quit? " 
people asked. But the game fellow hit when 
he could and hugged a little, and when his 
portion became too much to bear he would 
swing his right, though out of distance, to keep 
his larger opponent away. At the end of the 
ninth round Corbett laughed, and his seconds 

(156) 



THE HEAVY-WEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE 

were happy. It was all over but the finishing, 
and the finishing was to be done right away. 
But somehow or another Fitzsimmons did not 
look quite so bad when his face was washed 
and sponged and his wind was cleared, and 
Corbett wondered at the change that came 
over him. Why, the man was getting stronger 
under the terrific beating, and, incredible as it 
may seem, he v>^as the stiffest puncher in this 
round. Not that he hurt Corbett, but he 
worried him and made him doubtful and 
wonder who it was, and it was then that the 
doubt came into Corbett' s heart and the gray 
look into his face. But he, too, was game, and 
I began to sympathize with him. Fitzsimmons 
was anything but a beaten man in the eleventh 
round. He was growing stronger and Cor. 
bett's wind was none too good. Fitzsimmons 
grew confident and pushed the champion and 
poked him into his corner and landed good 
and hard on his face, and punched him, and 
then Corbett rallied and hit back, and I saw 
the hardest and fastest fighting I have ever 
seen in the ring. It was ''Game boy, Fitz- 
simmons!" while the Corbett men looked grave, 
and the crowd, who scented the coming change 

(157) 



LIFE OF ROBERT FITZSIMMONS 

of championships, began to yell for Fitz- 
simmons. Even then it was anything but all 
over. 

There was no denying Corbetf s courage, 
and when the twelfth round began he was 
flill of fight, and led and led, until Fitzsimmons 
went in to smash, and caught him twice on the 
jaw on the breakaway. Then Corbett missed 
his chance. There had been a clinch and rally, 
and Fitzsimmons had got the worst of it. He 
went back after the clinch, and for a second 
his arms hung helpless. What a chance for an 
uppercut. Corbett saw it, but a tenth of a 
second too late. Dash went his right hand, 
upward and outward, missing Fitzsimmons' 
chin by an inch and losing the fight — the 
nearest miss for so much money one is likely 
to see. Then we felt sorry for Corbett again, 
and Delaney whispered caution and told him 
to fight the man to a finish in his own way, and 
the thirteenth round passed without much 
difference. 

** Fight the fellow to a finish ; whip him in 
your own way," was Delaney's warning to 
Corbett as the fourteenth round began. The 
veteran second looked anxious. He could see 

(158) 



THE HEAVY-WEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE 

that Fitzslmmons was anything but whipped. 
His eye and ear told him that Corbett was 
becoming slightly tired. He felt confident that 
Corbett could win if he saved himself. It was 
clear that he was the cleverer man and unhurt, 
while Fitzsimmons' face was battered to a pulp. 
But no man can fight another's battle. It was 
Corbett who had to do the fighting. 

There were a few exchanges, and then I saw 
what I do not want to see again. I saw Fitz- 
simmons' left hand go smash into Corbett's 
stomach just as though it had gone into butter, 
and I saw Fitzsimmons' right hand reach the 
point of Corbett's jaw. Then Corbett sank to 
his knees In the western corner of the ring 
holding on to the ropes for support ; his eyes 
absolutely turned upward until none of the 
pupil w^as visible. His face was white. He 
was not unconscious in the sense of being 
entirely benumbed, but his limbs refused to 
respond to the demands made upon them. 

Time was up. The champion was out. 

Where was Nevada's boasted police force 
then ? Surely they were wanted. Where were 
the Pinkerton fighting men and the braves 
from the border ? I would like to have these 

(159) 



LIFE OF ROBERT FITZSIMMONS 

questions answered. There were none of them 
around the ring, where they should have been, 
keeping order ; and the threat of death to the 
man who crossed the ropes proved to be but 
an idle bluff. The ring was half-full in twenty 
seconds. I noted the time. Corbett was upon 
his feet again, half-delirious, and, dashing at 
Fitzsimmons, who had been called back by his 
seconds, Corbett gave his conqueror a blow in 
the face that might have killed him. 

Plucky little Roeber jumped into the melee. 
I saw Joe Corbett hitting indiscriminately. 
Everything was confusion. Spectators tried to 
find out what was the matter. There were 
cries of "Foul!" Corbett's hand was on his 
stomach, pointing to the place where he had 
been hit, and Siler, cool, contained, and nervy 
despite the crush, said : " No foul. Fitz- 
simmons knocked him out fairly with a 
stomach punch, and Fitzsimmons wins." 

After the round was finished it was fully two 
minutes before the spectators knew what the 
decision was. I made inquiry immediately 
around the ring, and could only find three men 
who knew, or thought they knew, what had 
happened. They were Billy Madden, George 

(i6o) 



THE HEAVY-WEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE 

Siler and William Muldoon. Now everyone 
knows all about it. 

At the time it occurred but few people saw 
the blow and fewer still realized exactly what 
they had seen. What I saw was a right-hand 
reach, from which Corbett drew his head and 
upper body back. It was a feint to give 
Fitzsimmons his coveted chance. Then I saw 
Fitzsimmons' left hand fly into Corbett's 
stomach. Corbett was facing me, and I saw 
him flinch and his lips form as if to make a 
sound. As he came forward I saw Fitzsim- 
mons strike him with his right hand on the jaw, 
not what I think was a dangerous blow ; nor do 
I think that the right-hand blow had anything 
to do with ending the **bout.'* I say I saw 
these things. That is certainly what I marked 
on the piece of paper in front of me, and it is 
certainly what is fixed in my mind ; but others, 
as competent as myself and with as good eyes, 
reverse the blows and make the right-hand 
punch the stomach blow and the left hand on 
the jaw. 

When doctors disagree perhaps the patient 
may be permitted to tell his story, and I for 
one am contented to leave this to Fitzsimmons, 

(i6i) 



LIFE OF ROBERT FITZSIMMONS 

who tells his own story in another chapter, and 
who, I am certain, knows exactly what occurred. 
I say "certain," because in watching him I saw 
that he knew what he was doing. The mo- 
ment he landed his face told the story of a 
successful general's clever coup. 



(162) 



CHAPTER XXI 

THE HEAVY-WEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE 

BY ROBERT FITZSIMMONS 

When I entered the ring I tipped the beam 
at one hundred and fifty-six and one-half 
pounds, while Mr. Corbett weighed one hun- 
dred and eighty-seven pounds. Before the 
fight my opponent acknowledged over his 
signature that he was in fit condition to make 
the fight of his life. Well, he made it, and so 
did I. He is a big, strong, clever fellow, but 
from the moment I saw him standing before 
me, trembling with anxiety to begin, I saw the 
expression of uncertainty in his eyes. I saw 
his legs tremble as he stood there like a young 
cub lion, waiting to spring at me. 

At the call of time I had collected all my 
coolness ; had settled myself to mee.t him in 
any variety of onslaught he chose to offer, and 
felt certain that if he whipped me he would 
have to do part of the work. I remerftber dis- 
tinctly the way he leaped from the arms of his 

(163) 



LIFE OF ROBERT FITZSIMMONS 

second ; how his arms quivered as he struck a 
defensive pose. There was nothing for me to 
do at that juncture but to feel him. I saw that 
he was not in possession of that confidence 
which he boasted, and I was in no sense of the 
word disconcerted. I began to frame his weak- 
nesses. Much to my surprise, he, too, was 
curbing his temper, and was not Hkely to lose 
it unless he lost the fight. On that point I was 
right, and we will discuss that later. 

In the opening of the first round I decided 
to meet him half-way in everything, and toward 
the close, when I saw an opening made by his 
advances to me, I put my right on him and 
broke my thumb. For a moment the pain was 
severe, but he had evidently been knocked by 
the blow, and his caution gave me plenty of 
time to recover. When the gong sounded I 
was satisfied that there was something more 
than mere inquisitiveness in him. There was a 
color of anxiety, and his big eyes danced over 
my face and peered into mine as though he 
were looking for an answer. I hardly think 
my expression told him anything. We came a 
little nearer and began to feel the advantages 
of the first round, but I saw that he was on the 

(164) 



THE HEAVY-WEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE 

defensive, and I made up my mind right there 
that I would have to go in and take a little 
punishment. He was on the verge of going at 
me several times in the third round, but I came 
at him and sent some hard ones on to his jaw 
that put him back a little. But he is a good, 
game fellow and stood it well, returning about 
as good as I sent, but he was a little more 
cautious about ''finishing" me. 

I confess I found it a difficult thing to get to 
his head as often as I wished, but therein I 
proved my generalship by immediately chang- 
ing my tactics and going for his wind. Once I 
landed squarely on his mouth, and every time 
he opened it to breathe I could see him holding 
back that blood-colored saliva, in order, I sup- 
pose, to deprive me of the privilege of drawing 
first blood. Not for a single instant did I feel 
that I was mistaken • regarding his intentions. 
I knew that he had given up the idea of a 
hurricane and was looking for an opening. 

Several times I gave it to him merely for the 
opportunity I hoped it would present me. He 
was quick to take the cue, but he never landed 
just as I wanted him to. A tenth of a second 
is frequently of the most vital importance 

(165) 



LIFE OF ROBERT FITZSIMMONS 

under those circumstances, and conditions 
must be right to put in the finishing touch. 

In the fifth round he appeared to take a little 
more confidence and set the pace a trifle 
livelier than he did before, drawing blood from 
my mouth and somewhat exciting the audience 
and his various followers. Twice I tried to put 
something strong in, but made no tangible 
connection. I jolted his head back pretty hard 
once or twice. Several times a pained expres- 
sion came into his face. Once he looked at 
my wife, who sat by the ring-side, and literally 
laughed at her, but she retorted, " You cannot 
whip him !" And as the words struck my ears 
it came like an encouraging voice out of the 
dull murmur and hum and conversation going 
on around me, and I said to myself then and 
there, as I have often said before, ''It shall 
never be the lot of that woman to be the wife 
of a defeated husband." About that time I got 
another blow in the mouth, which opened my 
lip a little more and the blood began to flow. 
I was also bleeding at the nose, but suffered 
no inconvenience except when it ran into my 
mouth. 

The sixth round was especially warm, and I 

(166) 



THE HEAVY-WEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE 

found Corbett getting a little wild in his 
punches; but when he did hit me they were 
heavy ones. Once I slipped while trying to 
get away from a left-hand swing. He stepped 
on my foot. I tripped and fell to my knee and 
remained in that position seven seconds to 
wipe my nose. The referee, at the suggestion 
of Mr. Julian, urged Corbett to stand further 
away from me until I got on my feet. I was 
not in the least bit dazed. Shortly after getting 
up the round closed, and I decided to make the 
seventh just as lively as he had made the sixth. 
It was then that I discovered that his blows 
were losing force. He struck less frequently 
than before and seemed to be playing for wind. 
He did not, however, lose much of his clever- 
ness, and managed to avoid me up to the 
eleventh round. 

In the twelfth I saw an occasional smile 
coming to his lips, and mentally congratulated 
him on the way he was keeping his temper. I 
cannot recall just how many times I missed 
him, but I am aware that he ducked several 
hooks and clinched me to avoid punishment. 
As I retired to my corner at the end of the 
twelfth round, my wife, who sat within five feet 

(167) 



LIFE OF ROBERT FITZSIMMONS 

of me, called out, '* Remember, Robert, the 
thirteenth is your lucky round ; do not let him 
whip you !" When the gong sounded I had 
freshened a little and was positive that he had 
gone his limit, had done the best he could, 
and was at my mercy the first bad break he 
made. Every time I caught my wife's eye 
she whispered something encouraging, and I 
winked and nodded back to her. She was 
a greater help to me than many people can 
appreciate, and I saw from the expression in 
her face what she expected of me. When the 
thirteenth round closed I had not effected an 
entrance such as I desired, but I had the satis- 
faction of knocking out one of his gold teeth, 
and perhaps two. He looked awful sorry when 
he got that crack, and flushed to the roots of 
his hair. I went to my corner at the end of 
that time more thoroughly convinced than ever 
that it was all up with him, and that the next 
round would close the issue. 

When the opportunity came in the begin- 
ning of the fourteenth round Corbett was fight- 
ing a little wild and made a swing which I side- 
stepped. In a flash I saw a clean opening on 
his stomach and came in with a left-hand shift 

(168) 



THE HEAVY-WEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE 

on his wind ; then, without changing the posi- 
tion of my feet, shot the same hand against his 
jaw, thus giving him the identical blows which 
I administered to Sharkey in San Francisco. 
There was no way for him to get up in ten 
seconds. I was sure I had done the trick, and, 
although he made a hard struggle to get on 
his feet, he was counted out by the referee, 
and the championship honors which I had won 
once before were again mine in one of the 
fairest fights ever fought in a prize-ring. 

The excitement occasioned by the knockout 
upset things greatly, and after I had retired to 
my corner, where I stood surrounded by my 
friends, receiving their congratulations, I was 
suddenly pushed to the east end of the ring, 
and the next moment I saw Corbett break from 
the arms of his trainers, who were trying to 
restrain him, and rush at me. 

A dozen men had hold of my hands and 

arms, complimenting me, and I was powerless 

to defend myself from the blows which, in his 

frenzy, he rained upon my neck. He was 

ghastly with rage, and the break in his teeth 

added nothing to his beauty. With curses on 

his lips he threw himself upon me like a 

(169) 



LIFE OF ROBERT FITZSIMMONS 

man who was possessed with the spirit of a 
devil and whose next act would be to destroy 
himself. Amazed and dumfounded, I was 
almost unable to defend myself, and not until 
he was pulled away did I realize that he had 
done what I had expected of him, and lost his 
head and his manners the third time. Finally, 
when order was restored, information was 
brought to me that he wished to shake hands ; 
and as I had refused to take his palm, owing to 
the incident on the prison road not long before, 
and when I considered, also, that I had fought 
and won the battle, I decided to show him that I 
had still the qualities of a man of courtesy, and 
offered him my hand in return. He compli- 
mented me highly, said I was the greatest man 
he had ever encountered, that he was whipped 
fairly, and that he wanted another "go" at me. 
I told him as politely as I could that I had 
fought my last fight, and would never enter the 
prize-ring again. With that, instead of accept- 
ing my ultimatum as containing a little wisdom, 
he retorted that if I did not give him another 
chance he would meet me on the street and 
beat me to death, or words to that effect, inter- 
spersing his statement with profanity. 

(170) 



THE HEAVY-WEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE 

''If you do, Jim," I answered, looking him 
square in the face, *' I will kill you !" 

I told him this because I meant it, and be- 
cause of my wife and my child, whom I love 
better than all the world. My only object in 
signing for that encounter was to vindicate my 
honor and prove that no man ever lived who 
could defeat me in a prize-fight, be he great or 
small. In the morning before I went to the 
arena my wife prayed on her bended knees 
that I would be the victor. Had it not been 
for the semblance of a hollow mockery to my 
God, I would have joined her. 

When the gong sounded for the opening of 
that fight I made up my mind that if they 
carried me out a loser it would be as a dead 
man. I submit the facts. 



(171) 



CHAPTER XXII 
THE BATTLE WITH GUS RUHLIN 



BY W. W. NAUGHTON 



A PUNISHING, Staggering fight, with the re- 
sult in doubt a dozen times. In the sixth 
round Fitzsimmons dropped Ruhhn as cold as 
an iceberg with the fatal shift. Possibly there 
are many in this broad land who do not know 
what the fatal shift is. The shift is an assault 
used in fighting. It is not always fatal. When 
Fitzsimmons uses it, though, it is generally 
fatal to championship aspirations. 

In order to work the shift to perfection a 
fighter has to change his feet with the speed 
of lightning. His right foot acts in the dual 
capacity of brace and pivot, and every ounce of 
strength and weight in his body and limbs 
apart from that anchored right foot and leg gives 
force to the blow which accompanies the shift. 

Fitzsimmons always boxes in such a manner 

that it is easy for him to resort to the shift. 

He keeps his feet shuffling around, with 
(172) 



THE BATTLE WITH GUS RUHLIN 

neither very far in front. His leg motions are 
ungainly, but there Is a purpose in It all. You 
would think sometimes he was a victim of 
sciatica, the way his legs drag. 

Fitzshnmons a Bundle of Tougnened Sinews 

He looks the "lean and slippered pantaloon 
of pugilism" to those who do not appreciate 
his physique. In reality, he Is a crouching 
bundle of seasoned muscles and toughened 
sinews ; a hard-fisted fellow, as cold as a fish 
and with an eye that notes every move on the 
Queensberry chess-board. 

He was all of this in the present fight. He 
kept close to Ruhlln, flogging away, and at 
times fumbling. His knees were bent on 
occasions and his gait wabbly. His bony head 
was rocking from the force of the Akron 
Giant's blows In many a round, but there was 
never a sign of dizziness about the Cornish- 
man. My ! what a slugging match it was. It 
looked as If FItzsimmons would put aside all 
his knowledge of trick and endeavor to win 
out in a smash-for-smash fight. 

He went close to Ruhlln and began to slug. 
Ruhlln struck straight from the shoulder and 



LIFE OF ROBERT FITZSIMMONS 

beat the Cornishman back to the ropes again 
and again. The first was Ruhlin's round. In 
the next round the aspect of things changed. 
Fitzsimmons tried the left shift once or twice 
with fair success. The most damaging blows 
were the left hooks he threw into Ruhlin's 
stomach. 

Terrible Clip Set by Both 

By the end of the third round the faces of 
both men were bruised. They were fighting at 
a terrible clip. Fitzsimmons worked the right 
cross until welts appeared near Ruhlin's temple. 
Ruhlin's nose was flattened and his lips puffed. 
He was bleeding like the stuck pig of tradition. 
He was weak, and so was Fitzsimmons. 

Nor did Fitzsimmons' face escape in the 
melee. There was a ragged gash alongside 
his left eye and shining lumps on his forehead 
and temple. Both eyes were black. 

Fitzsimmons was the aggressor in every 
round. He took Ruhlin's left full in the face 
times without number, and still kept pursuing 
the Akron Giant. If Ruhlin is possessed of 
the damaging punch his friends speak about 
he did not have it with him. 

(174) 



THE BATTLE WITH GtJS RUHLIN 

In the beginning of the fourth round Fitz- 
simmons steadied himself after driving Ruhlin 
clear across the ring. Bob was arm-weary. 
Ruhlin, whose plight was equally serious, 
urged by a few words of advice whispered 
from his corner, flung his big gloves at the 
Cornishman's face. Bob bowed his head to 
the attack, and Ruhlin' s friends were fooled. 
They thought Fitzsimmons was all out and 
about to fall. 

Bob Was Only Fooling 

The Cornishman was simply fooling. He 
straightened up with a grin on his countenance 
and hammered Ruhlin across the mat, bringing 
him down near the ropes. 

The endurance displayed by the two men in 
the fifth round was marvellous. For the greater 
part of the time there was no attempt at guard- 
ing, and swings, hooks, and straight punches 
landed on their faces. Fitzsimmons' blows 
were the more telling. Ruhlin appeared to 
be weary, but he still swung in a tired way, 
hoping by chance to drop his opponent. Near 
the end of the round Fitzsimmons showed 
more of trickiness than he did at any stage of 

(175) 



LIFE OF ROBERT FITZSIMMONS 

the battle. He dodged and drew away, and It 
was evident he was trying to clear the road for 
some particular punch. 

The opportunity was offered in the sixth 
round. Fitzsimmons was on top of Ruhlin 
from the first tap of the gong. He hammered 
him across the floor and brought him to his 
knees. 

Ruhlin stood erect again and Fitzsimmons 
acted as if intent on backing away. He halted 
suddenly and made a bluff motion with his right, 
and in his steel-blue eyes was an expression 
that might pass for anything from a baby stare 
to a look of horror. 

Beginning of the End 

It gave no indication of what was passing in 
his mind. Then qame the left shift. His right 
foot went forward and his left came back. His 
left glove crashed against Ruhlin's jaw, and 
the Akron Giant fell to the ground an inert 
mass. 

The fight was over. It was won by Fitzsim- 
mons with a combination of hard fighting and 
trickiness. He battered Ruhlin to a standstill 
inside of four rounds: played with him another 

(176) 



THE BATTLE WITH GUS RUHLIN 

round, as a cat plays with a mouse, and worked 
the shift for all it was worth. 

So far as Ruhlin is concerned, the fight 
simply served to show that he is a game 
fellow and that he can stand a terrible 
gruelling. 



(177) 



CHAPTER XXIII 

THE BATTLE WITH THOMAS SHARKEY 

With Running Comments Made by Gus Ruhlin 
at the Ringside 

Sharkey, his pale brow roughened with 
anxiety, came rushing in Hke a runaway 
tornado. 

Fitzsimmons danced away. His arms were 
moving as the claws of a panther move when 
prey is in sight. 

Sharkey in his rush cut loose a right-hand 
blow. It swished through the air much as a 
whip does. It missed Fitzsimmons by a foot, 
and then — once more happened the Fitzsim- 
mons shift. 

Fitzsimmons brought his right foot forward. 
From so low as his knee he started that fatal 
left, swung his leg with it, gave it all the lever- 
age of his broad shoulder, and, lifting it up to 
Sharkey's jaw, landed it, true and clean, with a 

(178) 



THE BATTLE WITH THOMAS SHARKEY 

bone-crushing smash. Not one of that big 
crowd who saw it will forget that punch. It 
squeezed an involuntary groan from the now 
open mouth of the sailor. His chin dropped 
forward as if his neck had been suddenly 
broken. His legs — those sturdy legs, unused 
to bend beneath the weight of any one blow — 
sank beneath him. 

Comments by Gus Ruhlin 

Well! here comes Sharkey. Now we are 
going to see a fight. 

Say ! he looks pretty good, does he not ? 
Fit? No, I do not think he is too big, do you? 
What is the delay about ? Fitzsimmons wants 
the purse posted, eh ? Ah ! here he comes. 
Listen to them applauding Bob. He is a 
very popular fellow. 

What is that Harvey just announced? 
Charlie White will referee ? Good ! There 
will be no foolishness now. Now I can get a 
view of them standing up. Sharkey looks able 
to go a distance — in fact, he looks as if he 
were trained for a long fight, not a hurry-up- 
and-get-away affair. But look at Fitzsimmons. 
Is not the old chap a picture ? 

(179) 



LIFE OF ROBERT FITZSIMMONS 

Get together, says Charlie White. Ah ! 
there goes the gong. Now they are at it. 
Fitzsimmons seems too clever for the sailor. 
That is a good one, Sharkey. That marine 
can swing his right. But look ! Tom is break- 
ing ground. The kangaroo seems too shifty 
for him. I wonder if Sharkey can dodge 
that one ? Good ! Cleverly done, old man. 
Sharkey is not as slow as he might be, is he ? 

That was a hard blow. I bet it hurt. Fitz- 
simmons can cross that right over like a trip- 
hammer. That one must have jarred Tom. 

Hello ! There is a rally for you. Good 
boy, Tom ! What is that — a knockout ? There 
goes Fitzsimmons. Bing ! There goes the 
gong. Do you think that was a saver for 
Bob ? He was down all right, was he not ? It 
was all Bob's round up to the very last, when 
Sharkey put him down. 

Ah! There is the gong again. Now what 
do you think of that ? Fitzsimmons is as fresh 
as a rose. There is no doubt he is a wonderful 
fighter. Go on. Bob ! Good boy, old chap ! 
Say ! Sharkey landed a hard one then. 

I do not know who I want to see win. But 
Fitzsimmons has the best of it. Look at the 

(i8o) 



THE BATTLE WITH THOMAS SHARKEY^ 

way he is showering the blows into the sailor^s 
ribs. That was a nasty uppercut. I will bet 
that one jarred Sharkey to his beam ends. 
And there is another one. 

Fitzsimmons is making him look like two 
cents. Sharkey seems all at sea. Oh ! There 
goes another in the sailor's stomach. He is a 
sturdy chap to stand such punishment. Fitz- 
simmons is sticking it into him for fair. 

I wonder how much of that Sharkey will 
take? I thought he would go the limit, but 
Fitzsimmons is throwing some pretty tough 
blows into him. What did I tell you ? There 
goes Sharkey. He is down again, and he is 
taking the count, too. But he is up again. 
He is a pretty tough customer. Now the old 
man is on top of him. Look how he bores in 
on him. 

I tell you, it takes a game customer to put a 
fight against such a man as Fitzsimmons. He 
is in and fighting all the time. That is what 
has won him all of his battles. I wonder if it 
will serve him in good stead this time ? 

He has Sharkey holding. That shows that 
things are coming too fast for Tom. There 
goes that terrible left again. What a stunner ! 

(i8i) 



LIFE OF ROBERT FITZSIMMONS 

Poor Sharkey ! Now Bob is fighting like a 
demon. He is giving Sharkey a terrible game. 
Right, left, left, right to the face , and body. 
Those punches are something terrific. 

Ah ! Tbf^re goes the one which I think will 
do the trick. Bang ! Right square to the solar 
plexus. That is the blow that does the trick. 
And there goes the left. What a crash ! 
Right on the jaw. Sharkey is a tough cus- 
tomer. But he is down now — down and out. 
There goes the last count. 

Fitzsimmons wins ! 

I will not say I told you so, but just look 
how Fitzsimmons wins. He is a wonder. 



(182) 



CHAPTER XXIV 

THE RECORD OF ROBERT FITZSIMMONS 

Robert Fitzsimmons was born in Helston, 
Cornwall, June 4, 1862. First appearance at 
Timaru, New Zealand, in Jem Mace's compe- 
tition, in which he defeated four men, winning 
the amateur championship of New Zealand. 
Next year, same competition, defeated five 
men, among them Herbert Slade (The Maori). 

Other not dated Australian performances 
are as follows : 

Jim Crawford, 3 rounds ; Bill Slaven, 7 
rounds ; Starlight, 9 rounds ; Arthur Cooper, 

3 rounds ; Jack Murphy, 8 rounds ; Brinsmead, 
2 rounds ; Jack Greentree, 3 rounds ; Dick 
Sandall, 4 rounds ; Conway, 2 rounds ; Pro- 
fessor West, I round ; Pablo Frank, 2 rounds ; 
Jack Riddle, 4 rounds ; Eager, 2 rounds. 

1889, December 17. Defeated Dick Ellis, 
New Zealand, at Sydney, 3 rounds. 

1890, February 10. Lost to Jim Hall, Sydney, 

4 rounds. May 29, defeated Billy McCarthy, 

(183) 



LIFE OF ROBERT FITZSIMMONS 

San Francisco, .9 rounds. June 28, knocked 
out Arthur Upham, New Orleans, 5 rounds. 
^v^ 1 89 1, January 14. Knocked out Jack Demp- 
sey. New Orleans, 13 rounds, for world's 
middle-weight c-hampionship. April 28, knocked 
out Abe Cougle, Chicago, 2 rounds. May i, 
defeated Black Pearl, Minneapolis, 4 rounds. 
July 22, Minnesota Athletic Club, forfeited 
$3000 on account of inability to bring off match 
with Jim Hall at St. Paul. 

1892, March 2. Knocked out Peter Maher, 
New Orleans, 12 rounds. April 30, knocked 
out James Farrall, Newark, 2 rounds. May 7, 
knocked out Joe Godfrey, Philadelphia, i 
round. May 11, knocked out Jerrys Slattery, 
New York, 2 rounds. September 3, knocked 
out Millard Zeuder, Anniston, Alabama, i 
round. " 

1893, March 8. Knocked out Jim Hall, New 
Orleans, 4 rounds. March 25, knocked out 
Phil Mayo, Chicago, 2 rounds. May 30, 
knocked out Warner, Baltimore, i round. 
September 5, defeated Jack Hickey, Newark, 
3 rounds. 

V 1894, June 17. Draw with Joe Choynski, 

Boston (police interfered), 5 rounds. July 28, 

(184) 



THE RECORD OF ROBERT FITZSIMMONS 

knocked out Frank Kellar, Buffalo, 2 rounds. 
September 26, knocked out Dan Creedon, 
New Orleans, 2 rounds. 

1S95, April 16. Knocked out Al Allish, New 
Orleans, 3 rounds. 

1896, February 21. Knocked out Peter 
Maher, near Langtry Texas, i round. De- 

y" cember 2, lost on foul to Tom Sharkey, San 
Francisco, 8 rounds. 

1897, March 17. Retained the heavy-weight 
championship of the world by knocking out 
James J. Corbett at Carson City, 14 rounds. 

/ 1899, June 9. Lost the heavy-weight cham- 
pionship of the world by defeat at the hands 
of James J. Jeffries, Coney Island, 1 1 rounds. 
October 28, knocked out Jeff Thorn, i round. 
1900, March 27. Knocked out Jim Daly, 
in Philadelphia, i round. April 30, knocked out 
Ed Dunkhorst, 2 rounds. August 10, knocked 
out Gus Ruhlin, New York, 6 rounds. August 
24, knocked out Tom Sharkey, Coney Island, 
2 rounds. 



(185 






;diJfi 



•■!>"• raiy^^i- .''^^ 



ii 






iii^l:::i:-l| III 

*> v; ■'..'. ':V""\/.'/'^H Mill 













.;t-KH:?'^'-'-'-^ 



l: 






LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



Wi 



